problem-solving in conservation biology and wildlife management (gibbs/problem-solving in...

CHAPTER 28

Conservation Values:Assessing PublicAttitudes

Margret C. Domroese andEleanor J. Sterling

Consider the wolf, that awe-inspiring inhabitant of forest, mountain, and tundrawhose calls on a moonlit night can evoke wilderness like no other sound on earth.This aura has made the wolf a cherished icon of the environmental movement.Could this be the same creature that William Hornaday, a leading conservationistin the early 1900s, described with these words: ‘‘Of all the wild creatures . . . none aremore despicable than wolves. There is no depth of meanness, treachery or cruelty towhich they do not cheerfully descend’’? Clearly the differences in these perspectivessay more about the people who hold them than they do about wolves. The personalvalue systems that underlie such perspectives play an important role in how policyand management decisions are made and whether people are willing to support thesedecisions. Being a conservation biologist means taking action to maintain the world’sbiological diversity, a prospect often fraught with controversy because of people’sconflicting values. Conservation biologists need to consider social, political, andeconomic perspectives and to understand how people think and feel about the otherlife forms with which we share this planet.

People’s values – what they hold as important – influence their choices abouthow to use the resources in the environment around them. People who value thewolf as an emblem of wilderness will have a very different perspective on wolfconservation plans than those who view the wolf as a threat to their property.Of course, there are many other points of view between these two extremes. Whendeveloping strategies for biodiversity conservation, core values as well as political,sociological, and economic factors are all important to consider. Taking theseinto account and understanding the stakeholders – people who will be directly orindirectly affected by a management option – are critical in developing a successfulconservation strategy.

Researchers often use opinion polls or surveys to gather information aboutpeople’s knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. A survey is a systematic, impartialway of collecting information from a sample of people that represents a population.Results from surveys may be used in a variety of ways, such as to inform policy orto develop an appropriate educational campaign. Several national surveys haveassessed the public’s understanding of biodiversity and how people set priorities

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Problem-Solving in Conservation Biology and Wildlife Management: Exercises for Class, Field, and LaboratoryJames P. Gibbs, Malcolm L. Hunter, and Eleanor J. Sterling© 2008 James P. Gibbs, Malcolm L. Hunter, Jr., and Eleanor J. Sterling ISBN: 978-1-405-15287-7

for loss of biodiversity in relation to other problems they face. Results from thesesurveys have been used to develop communication strategies appropriate fordifferent audiences.

In the wolf example, survey-takers should be able to determine the proportionsof residents who are for or against a wolf reintroduction project. They might alsobe able to tease out the basis for opposition to the project, as well as differentiateattitudes based on age or gender. This information would be very useful in devel-oping a public outreach campaign for a wolf reintroduction project. Surveys canalso be used to gauge the economic value that people place on biodiversity. Forinstance, a survey could be conducted to assess public support for a tax on campinggoods that would be used to finance national parks or other reserves.

Administering a survey does not have to be prohibitively difficult, but it doestake careful planning. This exercise takes you through the steps in conducting a poll:

1 Identifying a local or regional issue2 Designing an opinion poll3 Administering the poll4 Analyzing the results.

At the end of the exercise you may not be an expert pollster, but by better under-standing what goes into designing, implementing, and analyzing surveys, you can doa better job of assessing what others are saying when they tell you the results of theirpolls.

Objectives

. To learn about various public opinions concerning a biodiversity-related issue,to practice opinion-polling techniques

. To learn how to better assess the reliability of results reported from other surveys.

Procedures

Survey Objectives and Sample Population

The first step in writing and implementing a survey is to determine what informa-tion you want and what you will do with the results. As a class, choose a topic forthe survey and decide what you would like to accomplish with the results. You maywish to use the biodiversity literacy survey questions in this exercise (see samplesurvey questions below). Otherwise, consider an issue that affects your universityenvironment, such as the university’s policies on recycling, energy use, or landdevelopment. What could you do with information about people’s attitudes onthese issues?

Once you have identified what you want to know, you need to identify whom tosurvey. For the wolf reintroduction example above, you would perhaps chooseto interview residents within a 50-km radius of the proposed reintroduction areaand select a random sample from this group. Concerning a tax on camping goods,you might want to poll subscribers to outdoor magazines or catalogs. For this class

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exercise, you should select a population and randomly sample 5 people (per poll-taker) from that population. For instance, to do a face-to-face survey of on-campusdiners or people using the library (easy places to obtain a sample quickly), youcan use a random numbers table to generate 5 numbers between 1 and 10 and takethe sample from people passing by. For instance, if the numbers generated were 3, 5,9, etc., you would interview the third person passing; when you complete thisinterview, count 5 people and interview the fifth, and so forth. If friends of theinterviewee stop to listen to the survey, let them pass before you begin to countagain. Some people may decline to participate. Decide the type of record of refusalsyou want to keep (e.g. noting gender, approximate age, reason for refusal, if anygiven). If the respondent who refuses was to be the fifth passerby, continue fromthat point by counting 5 people again and asking the fifth if he or she will answeryour questions.

It is important to recognize that a sample of on-campus diners represents a subsetof the student population at your college. In order to conduct a survey of the wholestudent body, you would need to select your sample from a phone book or other listthat includes all students (and use a much larger sample size).

Survey Design

Surveys can be administered in written form or through an interview, either overthe phone or face-to-face. In this exercise, the latter – in-person interviews – arerecommended because you will be able to conduct the interviews in a relativelyshort period of time and with few resources (copies of the questionnaire, a clipboard,and a pen).

To prepare survey questions, it might be best to break the class into small workinggroups and have each group write enough questions so that all together the surveycontains up to 10 questions. Coordinate which topics each group will cover withtheir questions.

The tone and scope of the questions in a survey can greatly influence the outcome.Some advocacy organizations take advantage of this and plan surveys to obtainpre-determined results. However, a good questionnaire should present questionsin an unbiased and balanced way. A question is biased when one answer is obviouslya better choice than another. In the following True/False example, the word choicesreveal a bias which might influence respondents:

Killing helpless animals is acceptable if they are on your property.

‘‘Killing’’ and ‘‘helpless’’ are both words that are emotionally charged. Sometimesbias introduced by word choice is more subtle, as in the statements below:

The government should allow private landowners to shoot wolves that enter theirproperty.The government should forbid private landowners from shooting wolves that entertheir property.

When asked whether they agree or disagree, people may disagree with both state-ments if they wish to support wolf conservation, but also find it disagreeablethat the government should ‘‘forbid’’ anything. When questioning people on theirenvironmental behavior, they may have a tendency to answer based on what

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they feel is socially acceptable. It is important to try to craft questions to avoidthis bias.

Survey questions about an issue should be balanced, meaning that both sidesof the issue are presented with equal weight. For example, the following question(modified from Caro et al. 1994) briefly states positive and negative consequencesof extensive tourism in national parks, allowing the respondent to weigh these informulating an opinion:

Extensive tourism in national parks can lead to new roads and facilities being built,erosion of hiking trails, and disturbance of animals. Should it be common park policy tolimit tourist numbers in sensitive areas, even though this will decrease park revenue andhence economic incentives for maintaining parks?

All questions should pertain to the main focus of the poll. It is tempting to ask aquestion simply because it is interesting, but irrelevant questions waste time andenergy. Always keep your overall purpose in mind: What are you trying to find out?What will you do with this information? Maintaining the connections betweenthese aims and the survey questions is helpful when it comes time to analyze yourresults.

Effective questions are simple, clear, unambiguous, and generally short. Whilelong questions can be difficult to answer, they may be necessary to address complexissues. Regardless of their length, each of your questions should focus on oneidea and not ask two questions at a time. If a respondent were to disagree withthe following statement, it would not be clear whether they disagreed withlimiting the number of tourists in the national parks, with increased entrance fees,or both:

Do you favor limiting the number of tourists to national parks by increasing parkentrance fees?

Survey questions can be close-ended (with prescribed answers such as True orFalse, Agree or Disagree) or open-ended (where respondents answer in their ownwords). If well-written, close-ended questions are easy to analyze. Answer categoriesshould be clear and easily distinguishable, such as: good, fair, poor. Categories like‘‘fine’’ are not clear. Giving a ‘‘don’t know’’ option avoids forcing people to state anopinion where they do not have one or are not familiar with the topic. The numberof options for an answer should be between 2 and 6, but may go up to 8 or 9.However, if a list is too long, respondents are likely to choose answers near the topor bottom of the list.

Open-ended questions lend themselves to more detailed responses, allowingrespondents to answer however they wish. Such responses are generally moredifficult to analyze than close-ended questions. You may want to repeat an importantquestion, once in an open form and once in a closed form, in different sections of thesurvey to check the respondent’s consistency. Bear in mind that in any series ofquestions, a question may influence responses on subsequent questions; order canplay a major role in determining your results. In general, questions should progressfrom general to specific, and if using open-ended questions, these should precedeclose-ended questions on the same topic.

Below are sample survey questions, question order, and demographic questionsthat may be used as guidelines as you design your survey.

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Sample Survey Questions

The following are examples of the types of questions you might consider for asurvey. Some of them ask about respondents’ knowledge of a given subject, whileothers address attitudes.

Sample close-ended questions: True/False

1 Currently fewer than 100 species provide humans with the majority of theirfood supply.

True _____ False _____

2 Plants, birds, and large mammals make up about half of the world’s species.


Sample close-ended questions: Yes/No

3 Have you ever heard about ‘‘the loss of biodiversity?’’

Yes _____ No _____ Not sure _____

Sample close-ended questions: Agree/Disagree

Please tell me if you agree or disagree with each statement. (Answer choices may alsobe ranked as in question 7.)

4 It’s often not worth the cost in jobs to try to save endangered species like spottedowls.

Agree _____ Disagree _____

5 The world would not suffer if some species, like poison ivy and mosquitoes, wereeliminated.

Agree _____ Disagree _____

Ranked responses

6 From what you have heard or read, would you say the number of animal and plantspecies in the world is increasing, decreasing, or staying the same?

7 There need to be stricter laws and regulations to protect the environment.

_____ Completely agree_____ Mostly agree_____ Mostly disagree_____ Completely disagree_____ Don’t know

8 Are you optimistic or pessimistic that the next generation will live in a betterworld than we do now in terms of the environment?

_____ Very optimistic_____ Somewhat optimistic

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_____ Somewhat pessimistic_____ Very pessimistic_____ Don’t know/in between

9 What percentage would you be willing to pay in additional sales taxes on campinggoods if this additional tax were used to buy land for parks?

_____ More than 5%_____ Up to 5%_____ Not willing to pay any extra tax

Sample open-ended questions

10 In your opinion, what is the most important environmental issue in yourarea?

11 In your opinion, what is the most critical threat to biodiversity in your area?

Sample Question Order

The following series of questions demonstrates a structure for a survey that includesquestions pertaining to the knowledge and opinions of respondents regardingbiodiversity. The questions are arranged so that they present information asrespondents need it, and not before.

1 From what you have heard or read, would you say the number of animal and plantspecies in the world is increasing, decreasing, or staying the same?

2 Answer True or False: Plants, birds, and large mammals make up about half of theworld’s species.


3 Answer True or False: Fewer than 100 species currently provide humans withmost of their food supply.

True _____ False_____

4 Have you ever heard about ‘‘the loss of biodiversity?’’

Yes _____ No _____ Not sure _____

[Interviewer note; If ‘‘yes,’’ continue with question 5. If ‘‘no’’ or ‘‘not sure,’’ skip toquestion 6.]

5 In 15 words or less, explain what you think is meant by ‘‘the loss ofbiodiversity.’’

6 The term ‘‘biodiversity,’’ short for biological diversity, refers to the variety of lifein all its forms and the interactions among these living forms and their environ-ment. In recent years, a debate has emerged between two groups of people: onegroup says we should be concerned because human activities are causing the lossof biodiversity; another group says that human activities such as economic devel-opment are more important than biodiversity conservation. Please state whetheryou completely agree, mostly agree, mostly disagree, completely disagree, ordon’t know.

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There need to be stricter laws and regulations to protect biodiversity._____ Completely agree_____ Mostly agree_____ Mostly disagree_____ Completely disagree_____ Don’t know

7 Are you optimistic or pessimistic that the next generation will live in a betterworld than we do now in terms of the environment?

_____ Very optimistic_____ Somewhat optimistic_____ Somewhat pessimistic_____ Very pessimistic_____ Don’t know/in between

Sample Demographic Questions

One school of thought on survey design is that a survey should begin with questionsthat are relatively easy and non-threatening. Personal questions, while straight-forward to answer, can put off a respondent. Therefore, it may be desirable toleave such demographic questions until the end when the respondent has had anopportunity to answer the substantive opinion questions.

Interviewer: These last few questions are needed to compare your opinions with othersand will help us analyze the results of this survey. Your answers will be keptcompletely confidential.

If anyone refuses to answer these questions, repeat the above statement. If he orshe still declines, respect this wish and leave the responses blank, making a notethat the respondent did not wish to answer.

Interviewer: What is your age? _____

Some people are hesitant to state their exact age. You might provide choices ofage ranges: less than 18 years, 18–25, 26–35, 36–45, 46–55 up to 86 or more. Makethe scale appropriate for your survey sample (e.g. on a college campus, you maywant to give ages in 5-year ranges between 18 and 35: 20 and under, 21–25, 26–30,31–35), and so on.

Interviewer: What is your sex? _____

This may well be obvious in a face-to-face interview, and could be simply recordedrather than asked.

Interviewer: What is your profession?[Or (if a student), What is your field of study?]

Surveys often ask about level of education, income, and ethnic origin as well. Decidewhich of the above information would be useful to you in analyzing the resultsof your survey. Such demographic data can be helpful in identifying interest groupsand determining critical audiences for information campaigns.

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Survey Implementation

Once you have assembled a set of questions, practice asking it with your fellowstudents until you can get through the survey smoothly. Testing your survey willhelp you to identify questions that need to be revised because they are confusing,demand too much prior knowledge, or ask more than one thing at a time. As youpractice the survey, record the time it takes to introduce it, read the questions, andrecord the answers. If it requires more than 10 minutes to administer the survey,consider eliminating or simplifying some of the questions.

When you administer the survey, identify yourself and the purpose of the survey,but avoid describing your goals in such a way that you influence how peoplerespond. Assure respondents that their answers will be kept confidential. Thefollowing is a sample survey introductory statement to be given by the interviewer:

‘‘Hello, my name is _____. I am a student in the Department of _____. My Conser-vation Biology [or other] class is conducting a survey of public opinion on theenvironment. The survey takes only a few minutes and your answers will be keptstrictly confidential.’’

In order to be consistent, always read questions exactly as they are written. Ask therespondents not to answer until you have finished reading the entire question. Trynot to read too quickly; reading about two words per second gives respondentstime to think about their response. Remember to ask all the questions consecutivelyand do not skip any.

Survey Analysis

When you have finished polling 5 people, collate the data on one sheet by question.For instance, for the question below, if 1 of the 5 respondents answered, ‘‘increas-ing,’’ 3 answered, ‘‘decreasing,’’ and 1 said, ‘‘staying the same,’’ you would recorddata as follows:

From what you have heard or read, would you say the number of animal and plantspecies in the world is increasing, decreasing, or staying the same?

During the next class, tally your data with those of the other students and collatethat data on one sheet (assuming 15 students conduct 5 surveys each, for a total of75 respondents):

Calculate percentages for each response to the questions. In the example above,35% of the 75 respondents said ‘‘increasing,’’ 40% responded ‘‘decreasing,’’ 25%

Increasing Decreasing Staying the same

1 3 1

Increasing Decreasing Staying the same

26 30 19

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responded ‘‘staying the same.’’ Note: in a more comprehensive study, you wouldanalyze the results by age, gender, field of study, or other descriptors to identifytrends. For simple close-ended questions, you would use a chi-square analysisto compare results by gender or field of study. For close-ended questions thatinvolve ranked responses or for open-ended questions, you would need to usenon-parametric statistics to analyze your data.

After tabulating the results of your survey and calculating percentages of res-pondents giving a particular response, consider what these numbers mean. Whilepolls can provide valuable information about what people know or feel, the rela-tionships they reveal between opinions and particular traits, or between attitudesand actual behavior are generally weak. Be wary of overstating causal relationships.For example, if 60% of females correctly answered the survey True/False questions,while only 15% of males answered correctly, can you generalize that females aremore knowledgeable about environmental issues than males (suggesting a correl-ation between gender and environmental knowledge)? What if 75% of the femalesyou interviewed happened to be members of the campus environmental club,while none of the males were members?

Some questions to consider: What can you do with the information you havegathered with this survey? Who do you think should know the results? What actionsshould you, policy-makers, or other citizens take based on the opinions held bypeople you surveyed? Is there other information about people’s values that youwould like to find out?

Expected Products

. A printed, polling instrument, including a variety of question types, focused on atopic of interest as agreed upon by the class

. An analysis of the poll data as collected by class members who deployed the pollto an adequate sample of respondents

. A summary of the data analysis in terms of insights about the focal topic as gainedfrom the polling exercise

. Responses in a form indicated by your instructor to the Discussion questionsbelow.

Discussion

1 What does your experience through this exercise indicate about survey resultsin general and the conclusions that are reported in the media based on theseresults?

2 What can you do if you read about poll results that are contrary to what youconsider the best course of action for biodiversity conservation?

3 Do you think what people say in a poll differs from how they act? If so, how wouldyou account for this in interpreting polling results?

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Making It Happen

Poll results are often reported in newspaper or journal articles, consumer reports, ornewsletters from conservation organizations. Look for a poll on a topic that interestsyou. Try to obtain a copy of the questions to find out how the poll-takers arrived attheir results and see if you agree with their conclusions. If you would like to get moreinvolved in poll-taking, you could volunteer to work for a local policymaker or anenvironmental organization to canvas the public on environmental or biodiversityissues. If your university has an environmental club or a chapter of the Society forConservation Biology, contact them to see if they need a poll done on a particularissue. You could ask polling experts to help you finalize your questions and to getmore information on analyzing the results. Another interesting way to find out whatissues concern people in your community is to attend a town council or naturalresources commission meeting. Often such meetings provide a forum for people toexpress their opinions on a variety of issues. One thing to remember is that mostinstitutions have specific policies regarding research on human subjects. If youundertake research using surveys or questionnaires, you will want to check on theInstitutional Review Board requirements at your institution.

Further Resources

Several books have been written on people’s attitudes towards biodiversity; a goodone is Perlman and Adelson (1997). For examples of studies measuring people’sattitudes towards a specific conservation issue using opinion polls, see Readingand Kellert (1993) and Shrestha and Alavalapati (2006). A fascinating look atcontemporary attitudes toward biodiversity is Belden Russonello & Stewart’spoll ‘‘Americans and biodiversity: New perspectives in 2002’’ available at www.biodiversityproject.org/02toplines.pdf.

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problem-solving in conservation biology and wildlife management (gibbs/problem-solving in...

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