Exercise 1: Ecological Paradigms
Student name:______
TA name:______
This exercise explores several dimensions of Theme 1: Perception of the Environment, and of Our Role in It. It also allows you to critically examine the notion of attitudes as measured by attitude surveys: are they valid?
Instructions:
Use this worksheet to record and hand in your answers, feel free to expand and organize the answer spaces as best suits you and makes your answer clear.
Your job is to analyze the class results of the Ecological Paradigm survey. To do this you must access the results as a spreadsheet from the recitation exercises page of the class website: (http://www.colorado.edu/geography/class_homepages/geog_2412_f06/recitation.html) You will find results in terms of frequency and percent of respondents choosing each of the five possible responses for all 15 items. You will also find, on the second worksheet, the results offered in the Dunlap et al. reading, based on some 600 surveys conducted in Washington state.
To analyze the results, you need to keep in mind these two items: (1) There are many ways to analyze the responses to these so-called “Likert” scales. We will simply use the mode, or most frequent response, to determine whether the responses lean toward what Dunlap et al. call the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) or toward what they call the Dominant Social Paradigm (DSP). (2) THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT: the 15 items are arranged so that agreement with the odd-numbered items, and disagreement with the even-numbered items, indicate a pro-NEP attitude (and, of course, the opposite means endorsement of the Dominant Social Paradigm). You must keep this in mind in answering the following questions
1. For each of the 15 items, list here whether the mode response was NEP, Unsure or DSP.
2. Overall, does our class endorse the NEP or the DSP? Briefly explain how you arrived at this conclusion.
3. Can you find examples of a modal responses for our class that are contradictory to the overall result offered in #2? (that is, examples in which the mode is one category (Mildly or Strongly agree or disagree) in the other direction? List the item number and whether it is toward DSP or NEP.
4. On which items does our class differ (that is, the mode response is at least one response category off) from Dunlap et al’s the Washington state sample (Dunlap et al. reading, their Table 1, reproduced as a sheet in the Excel file for this exercise)). In what direction are each of these differences (is our class more toward NS or toward NEP). List them all here by item number and direction our class took (toward NEP or SP) compared to the Washington survey.
5. Give one specific reason why the result of this survey might NOT predict how students actually behave in regard to the natural environment?
6. Suggest a reason why there might there be a bias toward NEP in such attitude surveys?
7. Is there a question that you believe tends, by its wording, to “push” the answers toward NEP? Which and what words?
The survey items appear on the next page for your reference.
Ecological Paradigm
a. Strongly Agree b. Mildly Agree c. Unsure d. Mildly Disagree e. Strongly Disagree
(1) We are approaching the limit of the number of people the earth can support.
(2) Humans have the right to modify the natural environment to suit their needs.
(3) Humans are severely abusing the environment.
(4) Human ingenuity will insure that we do NOT make the earth unlivable.
(5) When humans interfere with nature it often produces disastrous consequences.
(6) The earth has plenty of natural resources if we just learn how to develop them.
(7) Plants and animals have as much right as humans to exist.
(8) The balance of nature is strong enough to cope with the impacts of modern
industrial nations.
(9) Despite our special abilities, humans are still subject to the laws of nature.
(10) The so-called “ecological crisis” facing humankind has been greatly exaggerated.
(11) The earth is like a spaceship with limited room and resources.
(12) Humans were meant to rule over the rest of nature.
(13) The balance of nature is very delicate and easily upset.
(14) Humans will eventually learn enough about how nature works to control it.
(15) If things continue on their present course, we will soon experience a major ecological catastrophe.
Your background:
(16) I was raised mostly in this setting:
a. Urban b. Rural
(17) I consider myself politically more:
a. Liberal b. Conservative
(18) Gender
a. Female b. Male c. Other