D7.1 Data Management Plan

Our project is about data and information. Responding to the Call, we will expand our knowledge on Citizen Science (CS) and its impact. We will seek this increased knowledge by “observing” a large and diverse set of CS projects, gathering data from the web, questionnaires and interviews of involved players, etc., and from a more direct inspection of running activities. Vast amounts of data will thus be studied, relying for this on (1) web-based analytics, i.e. the use of computational analyses to study CS activities based on their manifestations on the web and social media, and (2) deepening and combining the obtained data and information through multi-perspective analysis and triangulation. Our data analytics and analysis will target both “own” aspects and developments of the CS projects (organizational/operational characteristics, scientific outcomes, good practices, individual/group learning, etc.), and societal aspects, related to the impact of those activities on society, such as gender, age, geographical and socioeconomic aspects; science role in society, changing attitudes to science, etc. All these reflect directly on questions pertaining to data and data management from all conceivable angles – collection, storage, safekeeping, preservation, accessibility, retrieval, ethical considerations, etc. –, which are addressed in this Plan. As not all the relevant questions have been solved (or even posed), this document has to be seen, at least for the next many months, as work in progress. We plan to update it on a current basis, issuing interim versions as important modifications will accumulate.