Ecological Momentary Assessment of Family Forest Owners in New England 2016

Family forest owners (FFOs) across the U.S., and particularly in New England, are critically important to the health and future of the nation’s forests. It is important to understand the behavior of FFOs because they in the United States collectively own more forested land than the federal government or any other type of owner, and their actions and decisions will impact the public goods these forests provide. Typical studies of FFO behavior use self-reported survey data; participants are asked to recall past behavior or predict future behavior. These surveys are prone to bias, as it can be difficult to remember when things occur or to accurately predict what one will do in the future. Ecological momentary assessments, used commonly in medicine, are a fresh approach to measuring behavior by querying the subject in real-time. The PING project was designed to reduce this bias and provide a more accurate snapshot of how landowners engage with their land on a short-term basis. Participants in two experimental groups were invited to take part in a month-long survey, where the same questions were sent to them in the method of their choosing (text, via social media, or e-mail) once per week, asking about woodland engagement that week. Participants also took a pre- and post-survey to capture both demographics and feedback on the method. Over 61% of participants completed all 4 surveys and there was no statistically significant difference between the day a participant received their survey. Demographics were consistent with national statistics on woodland owners. A plurality of woodland owners in the study harvested timber for personal use and collected non-timber forest products. Finally, 86% of participants found the method of contact and number of questions reasonable, while 77% found the weekly contact reasonable. A plurality of respondents reported that their answers were typical of a given week, but that the survey question made them think more about their woods than they would have otherwise, suggesting that this contact method could be useful for both research and outreach. Use of this ecological momentary assessment approach over a longer time period may yield useful (and quality) information about when and how woodland owners engage to inform conservation-based programming.

美国家庭林地产权所有者（Family Forest Owners，FFOs），尤其是新英格兰地区的该类所有者，对美国森林的健康与未来发展至关重要。理解家庭林地产权所有者的行为模式至关重要，原因在于美国的家庭林地产权所有者集体拥有的林地总面积超过联邦政府及其他任何类型的林地所有者，而他们的行为与决策将直接影响这些森林所提供的公共物品。针对家庭林地产权所有者行为的经典研究多采用自我报告式调查数据：要求受访者回忆过往行为或预测未来行为。这类调查极易产生偏倚，因为人们往往难以准确回忆事件发生的时间，也无法精准预判自身未来的行动。医学领域常用的生态瞬时评估（Ecological Momentary Assessment）则是一种全新的行为测量方法，通过实时向研究对象发起问询来收集数据。本PING项目正是为了降低此类偏倚，并更精准地捕捉林地所有者在短期内与林地互动的真实图景而设计。本研究邀请两个实验组的参与者参与一项为期一月的调查：按照受访者自选的方式（短信、社交媒体或电子邮件）每周向其发送一次问卷，询问当周的林地互动情况。此外，参与者还需完成调查前与调查后问卷，以收集人口统计学信息及对调查方式的反馈。超过61%的参与者完成了全部4次问卷调研，且受访者收到问卷的日期差异未呈现统计学显著性。本次调研的人口统计学数据与美国林地所有者的全国统计数据保持一致。本次调研中多数林地所有者会为个人用途采伐木材，并采集非木材林产品。最终，86%的受访者认为联络方式与问卷题量设置合理，77%的受访者认可每周一次的调研频率。多数受访者表示，他们给出的回答能够代表当周的真实情况，但问卷问题促使他们比平时更多地思考自身林地的相关事宜，这表明该调研方式可同时服务于学术研究与科普推广。若将该生态瞬时评估方法应用于更长的调研周期，或可收集到关于林地所有者何时以及如何与林地互动的高质量有效信息，从而为基于保护目标的项目规划提供参考依据。