This dissertation project proposes to conduct research on the success of Dutch science shops. Science shops in the Netherlands are university departments that solicit questions from community advocacy groups - labor unions, environmental groups, patient support groups, and the like - and find students and researchers within the university who can answer the questions. This project posits that the Dutch science shops are effective because they enhance participation of scientists in local communities; increase citizen understanding of, participation in, and empowerment regarding science, and increase client support of science. The project proposes field research in the Netherlands, comparing the experiences of science shops in order to identify the determinants of success. The primary method of the study is participant observation at two primary and three secondary sites (all science shops) supported by interviews. Archival sources from the science shops and government periodicals will be used to document policy changes which have resulted from science shop work, including policies that were advocated by client groups as a result of science shop research. Two questionnaires - one at the beginning of the research and one at the end - mailed to all forty Dutch science shops will inform and verify data collected at the participant observation stage.
