Science Communication Webinar Series - NC Wildlife SciComm Webinar: Survey Research

A Balance of Craft and Best Available Science : Important Considerations for Survey Research Presented by: Kerrick W. Robinson – NCWRC Social Scientist The needs for social science across the WRC are diverse and complex. Agency social scientists are trained to use a wide range of data collection tools to answer policy questions and inform decision making. However, surveys remain the most prominent and requested approach from divisional staff collaborators. Surveys, from the social science perspective, are a method of data collection that presents a series of questions to understand human phenomena. They are anything but simple, with practitioners spending decades understanding how to best ask people questions. The purpose of this talk is to present relevant issues for intra-agency surveys and considerations for how to address them. Using recent WRC examples, I will discuss some scientific fundamentals of surveys to illustrate how we can create more robust data collections practices to better inform management.