Friday, February 3, 2012

Notes: The Interview List

After speaking with my investigators, I'm adapted my thesis and created a more accessible methodology.


I'll be doing mixed methods, qualitative and quantitative, in a "think description" process of research. At first, I thought I would find out what the "best" method of communication was. But now, I'll be doing interviews and letting the data build from the interviews.


I might find out about unexpected attitudes from members of the community, then I could share them with the government agencies and see what they would do in response. The goal remains the same: find out how to protect communities from environmental risk. Usually this is the government's role. So what methods do they use to produce inclusion and participation with small- to medium-sized communities?


To start gathering data, I'll be interviewing stakeholders in the community. I'll start by sending an email to someone in the biology department, and see if there would be someone with interest in environmental risk communication to speak with. This will provide me with one disinterested party.


Secondly, I'll work my way down the list below, which provides a range of stakeholders in the region:




  • Hinnickers
  • Bill, a local arborist
  • Drummers
  • Thomas Tree and Landscape




These will provide me with a range of community members concerned with the environment, but also concerned about running a profitable business.


I'll conduct the interviews with a digital recorder. Then I'll move on to a list of state and local agency communication staff.


After that, I'll create a questionnaire with open-ended questions. I'll have to be careful not to lead any of the questions. The questionnaire will be given to a convenient sample of local landowners.


I'll assess the results and build a conclusion.


Seems pretty simple when writing it out like this. But how long will it take? I hope no more than a month.

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