Citizen Science for Social Decision-Making: Avoiding Missteps and Unlocking Potentials

Citizen science that is involving the public in scientific inquiry has increased with an expected use in social decision-making as a democratized scientific method. Despite the success of citizen science projects, such as enhancing the public understanding of science and contributing to social well-being, the use of these projects in social decision-making is constrained due to an inherent issue, namely, bias. A critical challenge lies in the limited role of citizens in these projects, which impacts social decision-making. The representativeness of participants is a concern, because projects frequently attract a specific demographic, which can lead to results that are inapplicable to the broad population. Other issues include geographical and temporal representativeness, as well as the lack of accessibility and inclusion, which can exclude individuals without the necessary resources for participation. Additionally, a superficial involvement of citizens exists in the research process. Citizens are typically only involved in data collection and occasionally analysis, which leaves the crucial stages of design and interpretation to researchers. This scenario could also lead to results that are misaligned with community needs or values, which, hence, limits a genuine contribution to democratic and socially relevant decision-making. To realize the democratized scientific method, citizen science needs to extend beyond mere data collection and engage citizens in all aspects of the research process. By embracing these challenges, the future of citizen science could significantly impact society.