Citizen Science in Biomedicine: Attitudes, Motivation, and Concerns of the General Public and Scientists in Latvia

Alise Svandere, Signe Mežinska, Jekaterina Kaleja, Normunds Kante, Raitis Peculis, Olesja Rogoza and Vita Rovite ()
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Alise Svandere: Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre, Ratsupites Str. 1-k1, LV-1067 Riga, Latvia
Signe Mežinska: Institute of Clinical and Preventive Medicine, University of Latvia, Rainis Boulevard 19, LV-1586 Riga, Latvia
Jekaterina Kaleja: Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre, Ratsupites Str. 1-k1, LV-1067 Riga, Latvia
Normunds Kante: Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre, Ratsupites Str. 1-k1, LV-1067 Riga, Latvia
Raitis Peculis: Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre, Ratsupites Str. 1-k1, LV-1067 Riga, Latvia
Olesja Rogoza: Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre, Ratsupites Str. 1-k1, LV-1067 Riga, Latvia
Vita Rovite: Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre, Ratsupites Str. 1-k1, LV-1067 Riga, Latvia

Social Sciences, 2023, vol. 12, issue 11, 1-16

Abstract: Citizen science is research carried out by citizens in cooperation with scientists based on scientifically developed methods. Citizen science makes science accessible to the public and promotes public trust. Since there is scarce evidence about attitudes toward citizen science in the field of biomedicine, we aimed to evaluate the attitudes, motivations, and concerns of the Latvian general population and scientists from the biomedical research field toward citizen science research projects. We developed a survey that consisted of seven different citizen science research project examples (vignettes) and circulated it among the Latvian general population and researchers online, collecting quantitative and qualitative data. In total 314 individuals from the general population and 49 researchers filled in the survey. After the analysis was performed, we concluded that the general population and biomedical scientists in Latvia have different expectations toward citizen science. The results showed that while the general public is more interested in individual and societal benefits and concerned with specific participation aspects like filming, photographing, or co-funding, the scientists see the biggest potential contribution to their project in aspects of additional data collection and potential financial support, and are concerned about data quality, potential legal issues, and additional coordination communication that would be needed.

Keywords: citizen science; participation; knowledge production; biomedical research; research ethics; attitudes; motivation; concerns (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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