Assignment 2

Assignment portfolio:

Exploring public values, beliefs and attitudes about old growth forests

SOAN 355: People and Forests Spring 2017

Context: Forest management practices on public land in Oregon have changed dramatically over the last quarter century in response to, among other things, cultural change. In The Tillamook Gail Wells described the emergence of an Arcadian as opposed to Frontier worldview that shapes how people in Oregon view and value forests in the region. While public input processes associated with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) captures interest group perspectives on US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management plans in the region, such as commercial thinning for fuel-reduction and forest health in the Ashland watershed, managers often lack good data on changing public values, beliefs, and attitudes toward broad forest management goals and specific plans. This set of assignments will explore systematically what is known about how people view forests in our region, and they will explore the challenges with and opportunities for generating novel data that could to help land managers and policy makers better understand public values and attitudes toward forests. Particular attention will be given to how public perceptions differ from scientific understandings of forest systems.

Objectives: Through this set of assignments you will demonstrate your ability to

1. understand key culture concepts (i.e., worldview, values, beliefs, attitudes, etc.) and explain how they shape public opinion about forests in our region.

2. critically evaluate social scientific literature, noting how the research methods compare to methods in natural science.

3. develop and refine empirical questions for social research.

4. access secondary and produce primary source data on forest values.

5. display qualitative and quantitative data in tabular and graphical form.

6. communicate in writing how shifting forest values are related to both ecological science and social change

Formatting guidelines for writing: The following applies to all six portfolio assignments.

• Use Times New Roman 12 point font.

• Double-space all work, expect for tables and graphs.

• Include a title page and headers with your name, class, date and page number.

• Use either MLA or APA consistently to cite sources; include a reference page at the end.

Individual assignments, detailed in separate documents:

1. Developing researchable questions

2. Evaluating what is known about forest values

3. The art and science of quantitative data display

4. A content analysis of public input on forest management, past and present

5. Generational differences in forest values, beliefs and attitudes

6. Personal reflections on old growth conservation

Assignment 2: Critically evaluating what is known about forest values

SOAN 355

Spring 2017

Due Date: Friday, April 28, 2017, 11:55 PM

Objective: Along with a clear question, good social research begins with a careful assessment of what is known on the subject. This assignment will demonstrate your ability 1) to find peer reviewed scholarship and other useful literature exploring forest values, beliefs and attitudes, 2) to critically evaluate social scientific literature, noting how methods differ from the natural sciences, and 3) to communicate in writing key insights about social and cultural change.

Description: Using at least one or two studies on forest values, beliefs and attitudes provided on Moodle and at least two new sources you find through a literature search, summarize what is known about a specific aspect of public values, beliefs and attitudes toward forests and forest management in our region. Ideally, your exploration will seek to answer question(s) you posed in Assignment #1, though it may be that no good research exists to address your question. Your goal in this literature review is not to be comprehensive, but rather to precisely identify what seems to you to be key findings about some aspect of how people view forests. Be insightful and incisive. Good literature reviews often start with more general findings and become specific, like a funnel. Good literature reviews are organized thematically rather than summarizing papers one after another. Along with findings, be sure to note the context for the research you cite, and how the work was done. How generalizable is the study (i.e., type and size of sample), and how are finding used? Do these studies have limitations?

Formatting Guidelines: The narrative part of this assignment should conform to the common writing conventions for your portfolio.

I attached four studies from our Moodle you can choose one or two from them, and at least two new sources you find through a literature search (google). Total of three to four studies no more.