Citizen science as a data-based practice: A consideration of data justice

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(Patterns 2, 100224, April 9, 2021)

The original version of the published article contained the following paragraph:

“In 2018, the Flint residents filed a complaint (flintcomplaints.com) against the lead researcher of the FWS, Professor Marc Edwards of Virginia Tech, for misrepresenting the Flint residents in Edwards's complaint against the Flint Area Community Health and Environment Partnership, violating the residents' right of self-determination, defamation of the residents, and false claim about the safety of Flint's residential water. That served as an instance of rights-based injustice whereby the right of the Flint residents to be fairly represented in data-related outcomes was violated during the midstream steps of the value chain. In this regard, while fairness in data representation in the upstream processes of FWS could be served, the same could not be guaranteed in the subsequent processes.”

This paragraph was later rewritten to more accurately represent the context around the residents’ complaint and to clarify the classification of that episode in relation to the subject of study of the work. The paragraph has been corrected online to read as below, and a new reference 57 has been added: Stein, P. (2019). Aqua Man. The Washington Post Magazine. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/magazine/wp/2019/01/16/feature/they-helped-expose-unsafe-lead-levels-in-flints-and-in-d-c-s-water-then-they-turned-on-each-other/.

“In 2018, some of the Flint residents filed a complaint against an FWS researcher, for filing a separate complaint against FACHEP (Flint Area Community Health and Environment Partnership) ‘without speaking to us first or securing our permission to take this action on our behalf.’ The residents’ complaint also alleged ‘Obstruction of Flint’s right for self-determination’ and ‘Unsubstantiated defamation of Flint residents.’ Quotes are from the complaint posted at flintcomplaints.com. Without entering into the merits of the complaint by the Flint residents, which has been the object of controversies,⁵⁷ these claims allude to an element of rights-based data injustice with regard to fair representation in data-related outcomes.”