Galaxy Zoo: Motivations of Citizen Scientists

TL;DR

This study analyzes motivations of nearly 11,000 Galaxy Zoo volunteers, revealing that contributing to scientific research is their main motivation, which can inform future citizen science project planning.

Contribution

It provides the first large-scale analysis of volunteer motivations in an astronomy citizen science project, highlighting the importance of scientific contribution as a primary motivator.

Findings

Volunteers' main motivation is contributing to scientific research.

Large-scale survey data on volunteer motivations in astronomy.

Encourages studying motivations to improve citizen science engagement.

Abstract

Citizen science, in which volunteers work with professional scientists to conduct research, is expanding due to large online datasets. To plan projects, it is important to understand volunteers' motivations for participating. This paper analyzes results from an online survey of nearly 11,000 volunteers in Galaxy Zoo, an astronomy citizen science project. Results show that volunteers' primary motivation is a desire to contribute to scientific research. We encourage other citizen science projects to study the motivations of their volunteers, to see whether and how these results may be generalized to inform the field of citizen science.