2018 Volume 42 Issue 4 Pages 324-334
The current study is one of the hypothesis verification studies of previous work (Kimura, 2017), in which a hypothetical model, explaining why amateur scientists could continue their scientific practices, was generated through a qualitative research method, the Modified Grounded Theory Approach (M-GTA). The present study examined common elements enabling Japanese amateur entomological scientists to continue their scientific practices in the hypothetical model, by using a quantitative research method. A total of 70 amateur entomological scientists voluntarily participated in a questionnaire survey, consisting of 3 attribute questions and 19 main questions, which identified a total of 21 essential elements (‘categories,’ ‘concepts,’ and ‘processes’) of the model. The data obtained was analyzed quantitatively. The findings revealed that the 21 elements could be divided into three groups: Thirteen elements were shared among the Japanese amateur entomological scientists, whereas 5 elements were not, while the remaining 3 elements were in-between.
