Book Chapter
Community-based research: science conducted as if people really matter
By
Peter D. Wilson
Peter D. Wilson
Key Centre for Biodiversity and Bioresources, School of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, NSW 2109
Search for other works by this author on:
-
Published:2002
Citation
Peter D. Wilson, 2002. "Community-based research: science conducted as if people really matter", A clash of Paradigms: Community and research-based conservation, Daniel Lunney, Chris Dickman, Shelley Burgin
Download citation file:
The presentations given in this symposium have sought to examine the apparent clash between two worldviews or paradigms. In this paper, I begin by defining community-based research and examine the nature of two paradigms of science that seem to lay beneath the surface of any discussion of community-based research. I then consider what roles the professional scientist and members of the wider community have in research activity under these paradigms. This is followed by an exposition of the key features of successful community-based conservation work, including community-based research activities. Some scientists argue that community-based research does not work, that it is not worthwhile and that science should be left to the scientific elite. They cite poor data quality, particularly that part due to observer bias, and a general lack of rigour in the work. I argue here that there are some counter examples that show that community-based research can work and seek to identify those key factors that appear to be necessary for success. Some of these are technical and some relate to people management. Community-based research is not a “must do” for the professional scientist and it is not a panacea for conservation ailments. It is another useful tool for gathering data and used wisely can yield scientific, social and political rewards not possible by any other means.
Alexandra, J., Haffenden, S. and White, T. 1996 Listening to the Land: A Directory of Community Environmental Monitoring Groups in Australia. Australian Conservation Foundation, Fitzroy.
Bibby, C. J., Burgess, N. D. and Hill, D. A. 1992 Bird Census Techniques. Academic Press, London.
Bolin, B. 1994. Science and policy making. Ambio 23: 25-29.
Bolton, R. 1987 People Skills. Simon and Schuster Australia, East Roseville, Sydney.
Boulinier, T., Nichols, J. D., Sauer, J. R., Hines, J. E. and Pollock, K. H. 1998. Estimating species richness: the importance of heterogeneity in species detectability. Ecology 79: 1018-1028.
Bronowski, J. 1951 The Common Sense of Science. Heinemann, London.
Burnham, K. P. and Overton, W. S. 1979. Robust estimation of population size when capture probabilities vary among individuals. Ecology 60: 927-936.
Carr, D. S., Selin, S. W. and Schuett, M. A. 1998. Managing public forests: understanding the role of collaborative planning. Environmental Management 22: 767-776.
Carrier, W. D. 1995. The Nero Syndrome in the wildlife profession. Wildlife Society Bulletin 23: 676-679.
Catterall, C. P., Johnson, G. P., Arito, E., Arthur, J. M. and Park, K. 1996 Influence of observer experience, individual variation and context of observation on the quality of bird count data. Unpublished draft report to the Australian Nature Conservation Agency. Faculty of Environmental Science, Griffith University, Nathan.
Choquenot, D. 1995. Species- and habitat-related visibility bias in helicopter counts of kangaroos. Wildlife Society Bulletin 23: 175-179.
Corbett, D. 1970. Communicating science in adult education. Pp. 247-256 in Adult Education in Australia, edited by D. Whitelock. Pergamon Press Australia, Rushcutters Bay.
Cortner, H. J. and Moote, M. A. 1994. Trends and issues in land and water resource management: setting the agenda for change. Environmental Management 18: 167-173.
Curtis, A., Tracey, P. and De Lacy, T. 1993 Landcare in Victoria: Getting the job done. Johnstone Centre of Parks and Recreation. Report No. 1. Charles Sturt University, Albury.
Cyr, A. 1981. Limitation and variability in hearing ability in censusing birds Studies in Avian Biology 6: 327-333.
Daniels, S. E. and Walker, G. B. 1996. Collaborative learning: improving public deliberation in ecosystem-based management. Environmental Impact Assessment Review 16: 71-102.
Dvornich, K. M., Tudor, M. and Grue, C. E. 1995. Nature mapping: assisting management of natural resources thorough public education and public participation. Wildlife Society Bulletin 23: 609-614.
Eason, T. H., Smith, B. H. and Pelton, M. R. 1996. Researcher variation in collection of morphometrics on black bears. Wildlife Society Bulletin 24: 485-489.
Ehrlich, P. R. and Ehrlich, A. H. 1996 The Betrayal of Science and Reason. Island Press, Washington, D. C.
Emlen, J. T. 1984. An observer-specific, full-season, strip-map method for censusing songbird communities. Auk 101: 730-740.
Franklin, J. F. 1995. Scientists in Wonderland. Science and Biodiversity Policy Supplement to BioScience, 1995: S74-S78.
Freilich, J. E. and LaRue, E. L., Jr 1998. Importance of observer experience in finding desert tortoises. Journal of Wildlife Management 62: 590-596.
Friend, G. R., Smith, G. T., Mitchell, D. S. and Dickman, C. R. 1989. Influence of pitfall and drift fence design on capture rates of small vertebrates in semi-arid habitats of Western Australia. Australian Wildlife Research 16: 1-10.
Garcia, M. W. 1989. Forest Service experience with interdisciplinary teams developing integrated resource management programs. Environmental Management 13: 583-592.
Gilbert, V. C. 1988. Cooperation in ecosystem management. Pp. 180-232 in Ecosystem Management for Parks and Wilderness, edited by J. K. Agee, and D. R. Johnson. University of Washington Press, Seattle.
Green, R. H. 1979 Sampling Design and Statistical Methods for Environmental Biologists. Wiley-Interscience, New York.
Greenwood, J. J. D. 1996. Basic techniques. Pp. 11-110 in Ecological Census Techniques. A Handbook, edited by W. J. Sutherland. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Hobbs, T. J., Morton, S. R., Masters, P. and Jones, K. R. 1994. Influence of pit-trap design on sampling of reptiles in arid spinifex grasslands. Wildlife Research 21: 483-490.
Howard, M. 1996 How to Teach Adults. A Practical Guide for Educators and Trainers. How to Books, Plymouth.
International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management (ICLARM) 1997 Aquanaut Survey Manual. ICLARM, Makatis City, Philippines. (also published on the Internet at http:/www.reefbase.org/aqindex.htm.).
Jaeger, R. G. and Inger, R. F. 1994. Standard techniques for inventory and monitoring: 4. Quadrat sampling. Pp. 97-102 in Measuring and Monitoring Biological Diversity. Standard Methods for Amphibians edited by W. R. Heyer, M. A. Donnelly, R. W. McDiarmid, L.-A. C. Hayek, and M. C. Foster. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D. C.
James, F. C., McCulloch, C. E., Weidenfeld, D. A. 1996. New approaches to the analysis of population trends in land birds. Ecology 77: 13-27.
Jones, A. (ed.) 1996 Chambers Dictionary of Quotations. Chambers, London.
Keighery, B. J., Keighery, G. J. and Gibson, N. 1995. Community participation in bushland plant survey in Western Australia. Pp. 488-494 in Nature Conservation 4: The Role of Networks edited by D. A. Saunders, J. L. Craig and E. M. Mattiske (eds). Surrey Beatty and Sons, Chipping Norton.
Kendall, W. L., Peterjohn, B. G. and Sauer, J. R. 1996. First-time observer effects in the North American Breeding Bird Survey. Auk 113: 823-829.
Kepler, C. B. and Scott, J. M. 1981. Reducing bird count variability by training observers. Studies in Avian Biology 6: 366-371.
Krebs, C. J. 1989 Ecological Methodology. HarperCollins, New York.
Krebs, C. J. and Boonstra, R. 1984. Trappability estimates for mark-recapture data. Canadian Journal of Zoology 62: 2440-2444.
Lawton, J. H. 1997. The science and non-science of conservation biology. Oikos 79: 3-5.
Link, W. A. and Sauer, J. R. 1998. Estimating population change from count data: Application to the North American Breeding Bird Survey. Ecological Applications 8: 258-268.
Martin, G. 1995. Community involvement in land degradation measurement. Australian Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 8: 13-17.
Mesibov, R., Taylor, R. J. and Brereton, R. N. 1995. Relative efficiency of pitfall trapping and hand-collecting from plots for sampling millipedes. Biodiversity and Conservation 4: 429-439.
Morrison, M. L. and Marcot, B. G. 1995. An evaluation of resource inventory and monitoring program used in national forest planning. Environmental Management 19: 147-156.
National Biological Survey (NBS) 1997 The Terrestrial Salamander Monitoring Program. Bias: Disguiser of Population Trends. United States Geological Survey, National Biological Survey Division, Washington, D. C. (Available via the Internet at http://www.im.nbs.gov/sally/sally2.html).
National Parks and Wildlife Service 1997 Volunteer Management Manual. New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service, Hurstville.
New, T. R. 1998 Invertebrate Surveys for Conservation. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Nolan, V. 1987 Teamwork. Sphere Books, London.
Norton, T. W. 1987. The effect of trap placement on trapping success of Rattus lutreolus velutinus (Thomas) (Muridae: Rodentia) in north-east Tasmania. Australian Wildlife Research 14: 305-310.
O'Neill, J. 1993 Ecology, Policy and Politics. Routledge, London.
Pacheco, L. F. 1996. Effects of environmental variables on black caiman counts in Bolivia. Wildlife Society Bulletin 24: 44-49.
Papps, D. J. and Wilson, P. D. 1995. Biodiversity conservation in New South Wales: The role of the National Parks and Wildlife Service. Pp. 391-409 in Conserving Biodiversity: Threats and Solutions, edited by R. A. Bradstock, T. A. Auld, D. A. Keith, R. T. Kingsford, D. Lunney, and D. P. Sivertsen. Surrey Beatty and Sons, Chipping Norton.
Parker, G. M. 1994. Cross-functional collaboration. Training and Development 48: 49-53.
Pollard, E. and Yates, T. J. 1993 Monitoring Butterflies for Ecology and Conservation. Chapman and Hall, London.
Pomerantz, G. A. and Blanchard, K. A. 1992. Successful communication and education strategies for wildlife conservation. Pp. 157-163 in Crossroads of Conservation: 500 Years after Columbus, edited by R. E. McCabe. Transactions of the fifty-seventh North American Wildlife Management and Natural Resources Conference.
Ralph, C. J., Droege, S. and Sauer, J. R. 1995. Managing and monitoring birds using point counts: standards and applications. Pp. 161-170 in Monitoring Bird Populations by Point Counts, edited by C. J. Ralph, J. R. Sauer and S. Droege. Albany, California: Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Service, US Department of Agriculture, General Technical Report PSW-GTR-149.
Ramsey, F. L. and Scott, J. M. 1981. Tests of hearing ability. Studies in Avian Biology 6: 341-345.
Resnik, D. B. 1998 The Ethics of Science. An Introduction. Routledge, London.
Richards, D. G. 1981. Environmental acoustics and censuses of signing birds. Studies in Avian Biology 6: 297-300.
Richards, G. C. 1989. Nocturnal activity of insectivorous bats relative to temperature and prey availability on tropical Queensland. Australian Wildlife Research 16: 151-158.
Robbins, C. S. 1981a. Effect of time of day on bird activity. Studies in Avian Biology 6: 275-286.
Robbins, C. S. 1981b. Bird activity related to weather. Studies in Avian Biology 6: 301-310.
Rogers, A. 1996 Teaching Adults. Second Edition. Open University Press, Buckingham.
Saunders, D. A. 1990. The landscape approach to conservation: community involvement, the only practical solution. Australian Zoologist 26: 49-53.
Saunders, D. A. 1993. A community-based observer scheme to assess avian responses to habitat reduction and fragmentation in south-western Australia. Biological Conservation 64: 203-218.
Saunders, D. A., Craig, J. L. and Mattiske, E. M. (eds) 1995 Nature Conservation 4: The Role of Networks. Surrey Beatty and Sons, Chipping Norton.
Schwarz, R. M. 1994. Ground rules for groups. Training and Development 48: 45-53.
Scott, J. M. and Ramsey, F. L. 1981. Effect of abundant species on the ability of observers to make accurate counts of birds. Auk 98: 610-613.
Southwell, C. 1989. Techniques for monitoring the abundance of kangaroo and wallaby populations. Pp. 659-693 in Kangaroos, Wallabies and Rat-kangaroos, edited by G. Grigg, P. Jarman, and I. Hume. Surrey Beatty and Sons, Chipping Norton.
Southwell, C. 1996. Estimation of population size and density when counts are incomplete. Pages 193-217 in Wilson, D. E., Cole, F. R., Nichols, J. D., Rudran, R. and Foster, M. S. (eds) Measuring and Monitoring Biological Diversity. Standard Methods for Mammals. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D. C.
Stewart, A. P. 1979. Trapping success in relation to trap placement with three species of small mammals, Rattus fuscipes, Antechinus swainsonii and A. stuartii.Australian Wildlife Research 6: 165-172.
Sutherland, W. J. (ed.) 1998 Conservation Science and Action. Blackwell Science, Oxford.
Tasker, M. L., Jones, P. H., Dixon, T. and Blake, B. F. 1984. Counting seabirds at sea from ships: A review of methods employed and a suggestion for a standardized approach. Auk 101: 567-577.
Tew, T. E., Todd, I. A. and Macdonald, D. W. 1994. The effects of trap spacing on population estimation of small mammals. Journal of Zoology (London) 233: 340-344.
Thomas, L. 1996. Monitoring long-term population change: why are there so many analysis methods? Ecology 77: 49-58.
Thompson, W. L., White, G. C. and Gowan, C. 1998 Monitoring Vertebrate Populations. Academic Press, New York.
Tight, M. 1996 Key Concepts in Adult Education and Training. Routledge, London.
Toffler, A. 1974. The psychology of the future. Pp. 1-18 in Learning for Tomorrow: The Role of the Future in Education, edited by A. Toffler. Vintage Books, New York.
Trauger, D. L., Tilt, W. C. and Hatcher, C. B. 1995. Partnerships: innovative strategies for wildlife conservation. Wildlife Society Bulletin 23:114-119.
Underwood, A. J. 1997 Experiments in Ecology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Weaver, A. V. B., Greyling, T., Van Wilgen, B. V. and Kruger, F. J. 1996. Logistics and team management of a large environmental impact assessment: proposed dune mining at St Lucia, South Africa. Environmental Impact Assessment Review 16: 103-113.
Wilson, P. 1995. Sustainable development and biodiversity conservation in the south Pacific region: Lessons for NSW NPWS. Unpublished internal discussion paper. New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service, Hurstville.
Wren-Lewis, J. 1974. Educating scientists for tomorrow. Pp 157-172 in Learning for Tomorrow: The Role of the Future in Education, edited by A. Toffler. Vintage Books, New York.
This content is PDF only. Please click on the PDF icon to access.
