Doctoral Dissertation Research: How U.S. and E.U. Science Is Producing Both Meat and Animal Welfare

自20世纪90年代中期以来，动物福利一直是美国和欧盟农场动物科学研究的一个越来越重要的焦点，这在很大程度上是因为公众对农场动物的待遇表示担忧。美国和欧盟政府正在支持数百万美元/欧元的计划，这些计划将在建立国家和国际福利标准方面发挥重要作用。在这两个地区的农场动物科学中，一个复杂的因素是目前缺乏对福利的准确定义或衡量标准。该项目将审查三个项目(两个由美国农业部赞助，一个由欧盟赞助)，这三个项目都在不同程度上采用了较新的研究范式，试图衡量动物的主观(即，意识到它们的经历)福利，并将使用定性方法的组合，包括对项目文件和已发表的科学研究进行文本分析，以及对关键研究人员的访谈和研究地点的观察数据进行三角测量。该项目的设计有三个目标：1)比较美国和欧盟研究计划的主要特点；2)深入研究通过计划及其发表的研究的科学空间/环境、实践和话语积极产生关于农场动物及其福利的知识的方式；3)评估美国和欧盟计划中确定的不同研究方法对行业和动物福利的影响。该项目将开发关于研究和实验程序的物理空间/环境的数据，检查特定空间和实践与动物(主观)福利的特定结构之间的关系。关于话语，该项目将广泛使用叙事分析，遵循扎根的理论方法，以确定和理解农场动物福利科学的认识论和本体论方法，研究人员对农场动物对经验的认识能力的概念以及由此得出的好/差福利的定义，以及在科学界内外对福利概念的论述。预计这项研究将指出变化的类型(例如，耕作空间、耕作方式等)。科学研究结果表明，研究结果如何回应社会对农场动物福利的关切，以及美国/欧盟的研究项目如何相互作用和影响。在比较美国和欧盟的研究项目时，该项目将提供有关两个地区确定福利标准的方式的信息。这些信息将有助于政策制定者和动物倡导者评估这些标准以及公共和私人财政资源在应对社会对动物福利的关切方面的使用和影响。该项目还将有助于了解农场动物科学的开展环境、开展方式以及在科学出版物和其他方面的表现方式，从而加强对科学在动物农业和西方社会人与动物关系中的作用的批判性理解，并反映科学与舆论/政策之间的相互影响。美国和欧盟的研究结果对许多利益相关者具有重大影响，从机构和企业，到生活受到其行为影响的人和动物。作为博士论文研究改进奖，该奖项还将提供支持，使有前途的学生建立一个强大的独立研究生涯。

Since about the mid-1990s, animal welfare has been an increasing focus of farm animal science research in the US and the European Union, due in large part to public concern expressed over the treatment of farm animals. The US and EU governments are supporting multi-million dollar/euro programs that will play major roles in establishing national and international welfare standards. A complicating factor within farm animal science in both locations is the current lack of precise definition or measurement standards for welfare. This project will examine three programs (two under the US Department of Agriculture and one European Union-sponsored) that are all engaged, at varying levels, with a more recent research paradigm that attempts to measure animals' subjective (i.e., having awareness of their experiences) welfare, and will use a combination of qualitative methods that include textual analysis of program documents and published scientific research, and triangulation of data from interviews of key research personnel and observation at research sites. Three objectives guide this project's design: 1) to compare the major characteristics of the US and EU research programs; 2) to examine in depth the manner in which knowledge of farm animals and their welfare is actively produced through the scientific spaces/settings, practices, and discourse of the programs and their published research; 3) to assess the implications for both the industry and for animal welfare of the varying research approaches identified within the US and EU programs. The project will develop data on the physical spaces/settings of the research and the experimental procedures, examining the data for relationships between particular spaces and practices and particular constructions of the animals' (subjective) welfare. With regard to discourse, the project will use narrative analysis broadly following a grounded theory approach to identify and understand epistemological and ontological approaches to farm animal welfare science, researcher conceptions of farm animals' capacities for awareness of experience and the resulting definitions of good/poor welfare, and the discursive representation of welfare concepts within and outside the scientific community. It is expected that the study will point to the types of changes (e.g., to farming spaces, practices, etc.) the scientific research results indicate, how the results respond to societal concerns about farm animal welfare, and how the US/EU research programs interact with and influence one another.In comparing the US and EU research programs, this project will provide information about the ways in which welfare standards are determined in both locales. This information will be useful for policymakers and animal advocates in evaluating both these standards and the use and influence of public and private financial resources in responding to societal concerns about animal welfare. This project will also contribute to the understanding of the environments in which farm animal science takes place, the manner in which it is conducted, and the ways in which it is represented in scientific publications and beyond, thereby enhancing a critical understanding of the function of science in both animal agriculture and human-animal relations in Western society, and reflecting on the mutual influence between science and public opinion/policy. The outcome of the US and EU research has significant implications for many stakeholders ranging from institutions and corporations to the humans and animals whose lives are affected by their actions. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.