Evaluating public responses to environmental trend indicators
Evaluating public responses to environmental trend indicators
复制标题
DOI：
10.1177/1075547006291346
复制
发表时间：
2006-09-01
影响因子：
9
通讯作者：
Chess, Caron
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Johnson, Branden B.;Chess, Caron
环境状况趋势指标一直被吹捧为告知公众并提供环境机构业绩的“成绩单”，但还没有对这种说法进行量化分析。对新泽西州居民对州环保局提出的指标的反应进行的一项小型研究发现，这些指标被认为是可以理解的、可信的和有用的。然而，实际的理解与感知的理解无关，在这个受过良好教育的样本中，许多人表现出推断当地环境条件或优先设置用途的生态谬误，这些指标不可能提供这些指标。对全州环境质量趋势、从指标陈述中提取信息的准确性以及人口变量的先前看法对对指标的反应和解释有不同但重要的影响。这些发现对编制和评估有关科学的机构信息通报具有普遍意义。
Indicators of trends in environmental conditions have been touted as ways to inform the public and provide a "report card" on environmental agency performance, but no quantitative analysis of such claims has been done. A small study of New Jersey residents' reactions to indicators as presented by the state environmental agency found that these indicators were deemed understandable, credible, and useful. However, actual comprehension was not related to perceived understanding, and many in this well-educated sample exhibited the ecological fallacy of inferring local environmental conditions or priority-setting uses that these indicators could not possibly provide. Prior beliefs about statewide trends in environmental quality, accuracy in extracting information from the indicator presentations, and demographic variables had varying but significant effects on reactions to and interpretations of the indicators. These findings have implications for preparation and evaluation of institutional communications about science in general.