Citizen Scientist Community Engagement with the HiggsHunters project at the Large Hadron Collider

TL;DR

This study analyzes how a large, diverse citizen science community engaged with the HiggsHunters project at the LHC, revealing high engagement levels, community vocabulary development, and interest in future projects.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed analysis of citizen scientist behavior, discussion, and survey data in a high-energy physics citizen science project.

Findings

Over 37,000 participants from 179 countries

High levels of engagement and classification activity

Development of a unique technical vocabulary within the community

Abstract

The engagement of Citizen Scientists with the HiggsHunters.org citizen science project is investigated through analysis of behaviour, discussion, and survey data. More than 37,000 Citizen Scientists from 179 countries participated, classifying 1,500,000 features of interest on about 39,000 distinct images. While most Citizen Scientists classified only a handful of images, some classified hundreds or even thousands. Analysis of frequently-used terms on the dedicated discussion forum demonstrated that a high level of scientific engagement was not uncommon. Evidence was found for a emergent and distinct technical vocabulary developing within the Citizen Science community. A survey indicates a high level of engagement and an appetite for further LHC-related citizen science projects.