Social Science Basics for Coastal Managers

The social sciences are a valuable but often overlooked element of coastal zone management. Issues from marsh restoration to flood mitigation all involve critical human elements— knowledge, values, and attitudes—of the people that live, work, and play in areas we manage. Dr. Chris Ellis and Brenna Sweetman with NOAA’s Office of Coastal Management will lead participants to an exploration and understanding of established social science methods to help increase your capacity to deal with the human dimensions of an environmental issue. This training provides the basic knowledge and skills to help coastal managers understand their stakeholders. Register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/social-science-basics-for-coastal-managers-tickets-126858819143

Day 1 Understanding Stakeholders 9:30am-12:00pm est

This live, online module introduces the novice participant to prominent social science disciplines, important social science questions, and ways in which social science can be used to meaningfully and systematically engage stakeholders.

You will learn how to

• Recall the major social science disciplines and their applicability to coastal zone management
• Identify and incorporate behavioral considerations from the social sciences in defining a problem
• Conduct a stakeholder analysis
• Evaluate the strengths and limitations of different stakeholder engagement techniques

Duration: 2.5 hours

Day 2 Writing Effective Survey Questions 9:30-11:30am est

Surveys are a popular information collection tool to help coastal managers understand their stakeholders and quickly assess large populations. Unfortunately, because of their popularity, many people untrained in survey creation administer poorly designed surveys that yield questionable results. This live, online module serves to provide coastal managers with best practices to write more effective survey questions.

You will learn how to

• Review and critique surveys, and identify common mistakes in question design
• Incorporate 25 best practices when creating survey questions
• Create appropriate question layout and design
• Identify ways to improve survey questions that yield desired data types

Duration: 2.0 hours

Continuing education credits are available depending on the number of modules attended, this course offers one to five hours of continuing education credit for Certified Floodplain Manager professional certifications.