Assignment portfolio:Exploring public values, beliefs and attitudes about old growth forests
Context: Forest management practices on public land in Oregon have changed dramatically over the last quarter century in response to, among other things, cultural change. In The Tillamook Gail Wells described the emergence of an Arcadian as opposed to Frontier worldview that shapes how people in Oregon view and value forests in the region.
While public input processes associated with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) captures interest group perspectives on US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management plans in the region, such as commercial thinning for fuel-reduction and forest health in the Ashland watershed, managers often lack good data on changing public values, beliefs, and attitudes toward broad forest management goals and specific plans.
This set of assignments will explore systematically what is known about how people view forests in our region, and they will explore the challenges with and opportunities for generating novel data that could to help land managers and policy makers better understand public values and attitudes toward forests. Particular attention will be given to how public perceptions differ from scientific understandings of forest systems.
Objectives: Through this set of assignments you will demonstrate your ability to
a. understand key culture concepts (i.e., worldview, values, beliefs, attitudes, etc.) and explain how they shape public opinion about forests in our region.
b. critically evaluate social scientific literature, noting how the research methods compare to methods in natural science.
c. develop and refine empirical questions for social research.
d. access secondary and produce primary source data on forest values.
e. display qualitative and quantitative data in tabular and graphical form.
f. communicate in writing howshifting forest values are related to both ecological science and social change
Formatting guidelines for writing:The following applies to all six portfolio assignments.
Use Times New Roman 12 point font.
Double-space all work, expect for tables and graphs.
Include a title page and headers with your name, class, date and page number.
Use either MLA or APA consistently to cite sources; include a reference page at the end.
Individual assignments, detailed in separate documents:
1. Developing researchable questions
2. Evaluatingwhat is known about forest values
3. The art and science of quantitative data display
4. A content analysis of public input on forest management, past and present
5. Generational differences in forest values, beliefs and attitudes
6. Personal reflections on old growth conservation
Assignment : Developing empirical research questions
Objective: Social research is a disciplined attempt to answer questions through observation--the collection and analysis of verifiable empirical data. The starting point for all good social research, therefore, is the development of clear and concise empirical questions.
This assignment will demonstrate your ability to distinguish between empirical and non-empirical questions, and it will demonstrate your ability to develop and refine empirical questions for social research.
Description:
Write a short paragraph describing what interests you about how people understand and use forests in our region (1). Next, make a list of possible questions (five or six) that reflect your interests and that could be explored through social research.
This list is a brainstorm (2). Now settle on two of these questions to refine them into workable empirical research questions. Show me various iterations of the questions and describe how you imagine gathering data to answer your questions (3).
Finally, take this non-empirical question: Which type of forest is most beautiful? From it, develop two empirical social research questions. Remember, good empirical questions are clear and concise. Be specific and keep it simple.
Formatting Guidelines: This assignment must conform to the common writing conventions for your portfolio.