Joan Miller

IST 511
Synthesis Assignment

Though the term “Citizen Science” is fairly new, the concept of the public’s participation
in scientific research is not. The practice dates back to at least 1900 with the National Audubon
Society’s annual Christmas bird count. However, since its inception, debate about the validity
and reliability of data generated by nonprofessional scientists and volunteers has been
questioned. The debate continues, yet recent literature overwhelmingly agrees that citizen
science projects “have a genuine science outcome, for example, answering a research question or
informing conservation action, management decisions or environmental policy” (ESCA, 2015).
Furthermore, experts generally agree that the cost-effectiveness of citizen science data can
outweigh quality issues, if participants are properly trained and managed (Roy 2012).

Cornell University is one of the leaders in using and promoting citizen science. As a
project leader in the university’s ornithology lab, Jennifer Shirk states that “what is new is the
number of studies that use citizen scientists, the number of volunteers enlisted in the studies, and
the scope of the data they are asked to collect” (as cited in Cohn, 2008). Researchers increasingly
ask their volunteers to use more sophisticated equipment and techniques to monitor
environmental factors. Even with the complicated demands being placed on volunteers,
researchers at the UK Environmental Observation Framework (Roy 2012), as well as Brian
Mitchell of US National Parks Service (Cohn 2008), agree that the ecology research being done
with citizens is not so difficult that it cannot be performed accurately and reliably if volunteers
are well trained and closely monitored by scientists.

European Citizen Science Association (September 2015). “10 Principles of Citizen Science
(English)” (PDF). ECSA. Retrieved 18 August 2016.

Roy et al., (2012) Understanding Citizen Science & Environmental Monitoring. Final Report on
behalf of UK-EOF. NERC Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and Natural History
Museum.

Cohn, J.P., (2008). Citizen Science: Can Volunteers Do Real Research? BioScience, 58 (3), 192-
197.

LINKS:
https://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/ten_principles_of_citizen_science_english.pdf
https://www.ceh.ac.uk/sites/default/files/citizensciencereview.pdf
https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/58/3/192/230689

Comments:
I think that doing a synthesis is certainly a valuable step for evaluating the literature you plan to
cite when writing a scholarly paper, not only to help you find what your thesis argument is, but
to see whether the resource adequately supports your argument. However, I do not clearly
understand what the somewhat tedious process of doing annotated bibliographies, syntheses,
literature reviews, and even writing scholarly papers has to do with the practical world of the
working ID in creating effective instructional interventions. Clearly ID’s need to do thorough
research including reading many scholarly papers on the topic they are planning to cover…that
is no question. But I would imagine that one could then take what they’ve learned and directly
apply it to the design and development phases of, say…the ADDIE process, without having to
formally write out a synthesis or literature review prior to doing so. I’m hoping to gain
clarification on this subject as we progress through the program.