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RESEARCH ARTICLE: Three Tools for Evaluating Participation: Focus Groups, Q Method, and Surveys

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 April 2012

Stentor Danielson ,
Seth P. Tuler ,
Susan L. Santos ,
Thomas Webler  and
Caron Chess
Stentor Danielson*
Affiliation:
Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, Geology, and the Environment, Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania
Seth P. Tuler
Affiliation:
Research Fellow, Social and Environmental Research Institute, Greenfield, Massachusetts
Susan L. Santos
Affiliation:
Assistant Professor, Department of Health Education and Behavioral Science, School of Public Health, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Piscataway, New Jersey
Thomas Webler
Affiliation:
Research Fellow, Social and Environmental Research Institute, Greenfield, Massachusetts
Caron Chess
Affiliation:
Assistant Professor, Department of Human Ecology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey
*
Stentor Danielson, Department of Geography, Geology, and the Environment, 1 Morrow Way, Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock, PA 16057; (phone) 724-738-2564; (fax) 724-738-4217; (e-mail) stentor.danielson@sru.edu
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Abstract

To enable successful public participation in environmental decision making, practitioners need to know what works, but evaluation of proposed and existing processes is often lacking. We tested three tools for evaluation—focus groups, Q method, and surveys—at two contaminated sites with extensive public participation. Each tool is evaluated based on its requirements for implementation, the information it produces, and its acceptability to stakeholders. Which tool is most appropriate depends heavily on the available resources, what is happening at the site, and the evaluator's goals.

Environmental Practice 14:101–109 (2012)

Type
Features
Information
Environmental Practice , Volume 14 , Issue 2 , June 2012 , pp. 101 - 109
Copyright
Copyright © National Association of Environmental Professionals 2012

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