understanding and communicating about public opinion surveys
TRANSCRIPT
Understanding and Communicating
about Public Opinion Surveys
Settle, Bernheim, Rumble, Lamm, Irani, & Odera
Overview• Quarterly
– Water resources
– Undocumented immigration
– Endangered species
– Food production
What we do• Develop based on key issues in Florida
• Panel of experts
• Survey about 500 Floridians online
Water Resources• Cities and agriculture water use prioritized
over commerce, landscaping, and golf courses
• Largely unaware of lawsuit filed against Georgia
• More concerned with water quality than availability
– About 40% have had water quality issues
Water Resources• Engage in some but not all water resource
protection behaviors
• Willing to alter landscape to be more
conservation-friendly
• Prefer passive behaviors (e.g., not
overwatering) than volunteering or paying
Implications• Agricultural production valued
• Opportunities to improve landscaping
practices
• Need for communicating about water
conservation
Undocumented Immigration• Believe agriculture is where most
undocumented immigrants work
• Support use of E-Verify, even if it harms
agricultural production
Endangered Species• Habitat loss viewed as biggest threat
• ESA should be strengthened
• ES protection is everyone’s responsibility
• Support landowner incentives
– But believe landowners have responsibility to protect ES even if incentives unavailable
• Prefer passive behaviors over paying/volunteering to protect ES
Implications• Industry needs to show commitment to
protecting ES
• Pursue policies that aid incentives
Food Production• Food safety a concern, especially related
to technology impacts (e.g., GMOs,
pesticides, antibiotics)
• More concerned about meats than other
produce
• Food security viewed more as an
international than a domestic concern
Implications• Communication needs to be improved
about technology in food production
– They were largely unaware or unsure
How we put the
information out there
• Reports
• ‘Special report’
webpages
• Articles
• Trends & Topics
• Blogs
• Videos
• Infographics
• Webinars
• Workshops
Special reportwebpage
• Visually
interesting
• Hub for each
topic and
component
• Connect with
other issues
Articles
• Many people involved
• Bite-size chunks of information
• Context and analysis of results
• Knowledge gaps
Trends & Topics
• Monthly topic, weekly emails
• Related or current issues
• Promotion for other products
• Look behind the curtain
Videos
• Subject matter
experts
• Analysis &
implications of
results
• New entry point,
new medium
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2ZzUl48Plw
Infographics• Conveys a lot of information in a visually
appealing way
• Organize results to tell a story, share how they’re related
Webinars
• Even more experts
• Implications,
related issues and
knowledge gaps
• Chance to interact,
ask questions
In-person workshops
• Help Extension
communicate about
contentious issues
• Better serve
audiences
• In-depth, tailored to
participants