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

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 = 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.