CONDUCTING RESEARCH IN CONSERVATION SOCIAL SCIENCE METHODS AND PRACTICE

"CONDUCTING RESEARCH IN CONSERVATION" IS THE FIRST TEXTBOOK ON SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH METHODS WRITTEN SPECIFICALLY FOR USE IN THE EXPANDING AND INCREASINGLY MULTIDISCIPLINARY FIELD OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION. THE FIRST SECTION ON PLANNING A RESEARCH PROJECT INCLUDES CHAPTERS ON THE NEED FOR SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH IN CONSERVATION, DEFINING A RESEARCH TOPIC, METHODOLOGY, AND SAMPLING. SECTION II FOCUSES ON PRACTICAL ISSUES IN CARRYING OUT FIELDWORK WITH LOCAL COMMUNITIES, FROM FIELDWORK PREPARATION AND DATA COLLECTION TO THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE RESEARCHER AND THE STUDY COMMUNITY. SECTION III PROVIDES AN IN-DEPTH FOCUS ON A RANGE OF SOCIAL SCIENCE METHODS INCLUDING STANDARD QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE METHODS SUCH AS PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION, INTERVIEWING AND QUESTIONNAIRES, AND MORE ADVANCED METHODS, SUCH AS ETHNOBIOLOGICAL METHODS FOR DOCUMENTING LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL KNOWLEDGE AND CHANGE, AND PARTICIPATORY METHODS SUCH AS THE 'PRA' TOOLBOX. SECTION IV THEN DEMONSTRATES HOW TO