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Characteristics and Attitudinal Changes of Senior Citizens and Persons with Functional Impairments Involved in a Citizen Science Project on Housing Accessibility

Frögren, Joakim LU ; Granbom, Marianne LU orcid ; Jonsson, Oskar LU orcid ; Bergman, Martin and Iwarsson, Susanne LU (2023) In Citizen Science: Theory and Practice 8(1).
Abstract

Citizen Science (CS) projects targeting senior citizens and persons with functional impairments are rare, and interest among citizens to become involved in such remains uncertain. There is a lack of systematic analyses as to what distinguishes citizens’ willingness to contribute, and what such involvement could lead to in terms of acquired skills or changed attitudes. Based on a Swedish CS project on housing accessibility – the Housing Experiment (HX) – this study aimed to investigate: 1) the characteristics of senior citizens and persons with functional impairments involved in the HX; and 2) changes in attitudes and mobile digital literacy after completing the HX. Data were collected via online questionnaires before and after the HX (N... (More)

Citizen Science (CS) projects targeting senior citizens and persons with functional impairments are rare, and interest among citizens to become involved in such remains uncertain. There is a lack of systematic analyses as to what distinguishes citizens’ willingness to contribute, and what such involvement could lead to in terms of acquired skills or changed attitudes. Based on a Swedish CS project on housing accessibility – the Housing Experiment (HX) – this study aimed to investigate: 1) the characteristics of senior citizens and persons with functional impairments involved in the HX; and 2) changes in attitudes and mobile digital literacy after completing the HX. Data were collected via online questionnaires before and after the HX (N = 147), and were analyzed statistically. The response rates were lower than anticipated. Study participants completing the HX reported high levels of mobile digital literacy and functional ability, and a higher education level than the general Swedish population. The only attitudinal change was that significantly more participants rated the importance of housing accessibility lower after their involvement in the HX compared with those rating it higher. This study confirms indications from previous studies that limitations in mobile digital literacy and functional ability affect the willingness and ability to get involved in research. Further research is warranted to investigate how similar CS projects could be designed to attract more participants and to create the conditions for greater gains for citizen scientists.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
aging, attitude, involvement, motivation, participatory research, public
in
Citizen Science: Theory and Practice
volume
8
issue
1
article number
57
publisher
Ubiquity Press Ltd.
external identifiers
  • scopus:85175187817
ISSN
2057-4991
DOI
10.5334/cstp.551
project
UserAge: Understanding User Participation in Research on Ageing and Health
Socially sustainable housing policies for people ageing with disability: producing a knowledge base supporting participation and active citizenship
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The authors.
id
8525baff-f3b6-455b-878f-72c3eff7e550
date added to LUP
2023-12-13 14:53:55
date last changed
2025-04-04 15:27:21
@article{8525baff-f3b6-455b-878f-72c3eff7e550,
  abstract     = {{<p>Citizen Science (CS) projects targeting senior citizens and persons with functional impairments are rare, and interest among citizens to become involved in such remains uncertain. There is a lack of systematic analyses as to what distinguishes citizens’ willingness to contribute, and what such involvement could lead to in terms of acquired skills or changed attitudes. Based on a Swedish CS project on housing accessibility – the Housing Experiment (HX) – this study aimed to investigate: 1) the characteristics of senior citizens and persons with functional impairments involved in the HX; and 2) changes in attitudes and mobile digital literacy after completing the HX. Data were collected via online questionnaires before and after the HX (N = 147), and were analyzed statistically. The response rates were lower than anticipated. Study participants completing the HX reported high levels of mobile digital literacy and functional ability, and a higher education level than the general Swedish population. The only attitudinal change was that significantly more participants rated the importance of housing accessibility lower after their involvement in the HX compared with those rating it higher. This study confirms indications from previous studies that limitations in mobile digital literacy and functional ability affect the willingness and ability to get involved in research. Further research is warranted to investigate how similar CS projects could be designed to attract more participants and to create the conditions for greater gains for citizen scientists.</p>}},
  author       = {{Frögren, Joakim and Granbom, Marianne and Jonsson, Oskar and Bergman, Martin and Iwarsson, Susanne}},
  issn         = {{2057-4991}},
  keywords     = {{aging; attitude; involvement; motivation; participatory research; public}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{Ubiquity Press Ltd.}},
  series       = {{Citizen Science: Theory and Practice}},
  title        = {{Characteristics and Attitudinal Changes of Senior Citizens and Persons with Functional Impairments Involved in a Citizen Science Project on Housing Accessibility}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.5334/cstp.551}},
  doi          = {{10.5334/cstp.551}},
  volume       = {{8}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}