Survey on Public Access to the English Countryside
- Thread starter Mr. Green
- Start date
Thanks for taking the time to do the survey. I realise it is hard to capture nuanced opinion in a short survey of this nature, however if it were much longer people would be less likely to fill it in. Furthermore, this particular module is a level 5 module so does not require my research to be too rigorous, I have created a survey that will get me the mark I need at the level I am currently at, I am working my studies around a full time job in construction so you lot will have to cut me some slack
I have now reached over 50 respondents from the agricultural sector with this forums help, so thanks to everyone, I have around 250 respondents in total. I'll be sure to post a link to my final work on this thread.
Hi Forkdriver, a very valid question. It essentially comes down to my own sanity. Much of the research I have found in my desktop study has focussed on England specifically, it is this research I have based my survey on. Furthermore I have tried to keep the research as simple as possible as I am conducting my studies around a full time job, the simpler I can keep this particular piece of research the better. I would in the future like to extend my research to include the rest of the UK, but right now a survey covering England is sufficient to get me the marks I need without over complicating things. A crap excuse I know, but alas I am only human and their are only so many hours in the day. Thanks for taking the time to do the survey though I'm very grateful for it.
Thanks ever so much for taking the time to do the survey Princess Pooper. I realise my survey has its limitations and of course it is always going to be difficult to cover all the bases without the survey becoming too long. No one likes a long survey and people will be less likely to respond to it, so I had to cut some questions somewhere. This was however my reasoning for including the comments section, which has been very useful for getting a broader set of views and opinions, and I must say around 70% of the comments in this field have mentioned dogs as a problem. It seems the subject of dogs would make a great research paper all of its own, and I wonder if increased right to roam for humans only (excluding dogs) would gain a wider base of support.
I also take on board your comments that agriculture and conservation are not mutually exclusive and in fact the subject of conservation agriculture is one of great interest to me personally. This was an oversight on my part, but thanks for highlighting it for me.
Hi Vader. The reason there is no option for don't know is because I am looking for people to take an educated guess, I'm not looking for the right answers. This is why the questions are worded as "what percentage of the countryside DO YOU THINK is open to the public". I'm interested to see if there are any trends, patterns or biases in the assumptions people make about the countryside. For example are the people who over estimate how much of the countryside is built upon more likely to think that England is too crowded to increase right to roam. I hope this clears things up, I'm not trying to catch anyone out I'm just trying to garner peoples attitudes and opinions.
I am unsure of the reasoning behind the method the OP has used, but I agree totally that it is nigh on impossible to answer the questions properly.
Hi onesiedale, please see my response to Vader above. I hope this is sufficient in answering any quibbles you might have about my survey. In answer to your question about how much of your farm is open to public access, I can honestly say I don't care. You're obviously looking to provoke a response out of me so here it is: I have better things to do with my time than to start a discussion with someone who obviously has bad motivation for doing so, you'll have to try and bait someone else into disagreeing with you online. Have a lovely weekend.
bobk please fill in the survey, all opinions and thoughts are welcome and valid.
Hi yellow belly, yes this is true. But i'm not trying to recreate the demographics of the UK perfectly. I just want enough respondents from each sector so that I can get a more valid reading of what the overriding opinions within each category. The more agriculturists that respond the more safely I can assume that I am looking at a valid representation of opinions from within the agricultural sector.
Hi Ffemer Bach, by all means answer the survey. However my questions are focussing on England specifically, this is done to simplify my research project due to my own time constraints. I am currently fitting my studies around a full time job so anything I can do to simplify my research (ie focussing on one nation) I have done. Personally I would love to extend my research to cover the entire UK, and this is something I may consider in the future. I realise this is a crap excuse but unfortunately pragmatism must take priority over my own wants and desires (sometimes). Have a nice day.
Hi Primmiemoo. I am studying at Reaseheath Agricultural College (University Centre) in Cheshire. I am studying a foundation degree in Countryside Resource Management. Only after I had posted my survey the other day did I see a post explaining the rules when it comes to posting research requests and surveys, which is why I had not included this information in the original post. Sorry if I have annoyed any of you by not following these guidelines, it was done out of sheer ignorance on my part. But many thanks again to those who have filled in the survey, I am pleasantly surprised and incredibly grateful for the number of responses I have received
- Location
- Ledbury, Herefordshire
Round here the dissertation deadline is in two weeks........
Better hurry!
Better hurry!
Hi flowerpot, apologies for the wooly survey, unfortunately I am not a professional statistician, just a lad with an interest in the countryside. With regards to what I mean by public access I mean to encompass both RoW and Open access land, and since public RoW cover <1% of England's surface the answer to the question would be the same regardless of your definition. But you are right, I should have explained things a little more, I was just trying to keep the amount of reading respondents must do down to a minimum, to ensure people were more likely to respond. You live and you learn, every day is a school day.
Hi Steve, I have until May with this particular project, but thanks for the reminder.Round here the dissertation deadline is in two weeks........
Better hurry!
Hi SteveR, have a look at my response to Vader for a full explanation of my reasoning. In short though, I'm not looking for people to be correct, I am wanting people to guess, I am hoping to see if there are any trends in the assumptions that people make. Im not interested in how many respondents know exactly how many of our rivers are open to the public. I want to know how many of our rivers people THINK are open to the public. Does your being a farmer make it more likely that you will overstate or understate the answer when compared to an Ecologist. Likewise are conservationists more prone to catastrophise and be overly pessimistic about public access to the countryside. I hope this makes sense. I'm not trying to catch anyone out, I'm genuinely interested in finding the differences of opinion and the common ground between different sectors of land management, and whether or not these opinions are rooted in fact or conjecture. With this knowledge I believe more effective communication could be had between different interests.
Thanks for the responses here and to @Vader.
To be quite honest, I tend to avoid "guesswork" as much as possible...* I might have a view on a particular matter or subject, and (as folks here will confirm) I will let the world and his mates know it. However, the view will I hope, will be an informed one.
I leave that to punters at the racecourse!
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- Location
- People's Republic of South Yorkshire
Point is I have no idea how much is open.
And if people are guessing, then I could guess spot on.
So that would look like I knew , but in reality I don't. So the idea is flawed.
Also what is the point of knowing how much of a guess people are having?
Right to roam is a complete pain to agriculture anyway.
Agricultural land is a working environment. You don't let public walk round other industries....
Done it mate , fuk off my land with your flea ridden dogs
It's not the fleas, it's the bloody worms I am more concerned about!
- Location
- Derbyshire
@Mr. Green ,, sorry that you felt that I was trying to bait you. Completely the opposite actually. It was a genuine attempt to show how the construction of a questionnaire can help, not only with the response rate, but also the usefulness of the subsequent data for analysing.
When I was working in a previous career for a market research company, if I had presented a questionnaire like that to a client, I would have been shown the door and lost the business too.
Good luck in the analysis of your survey. Please remember that as the respondents are self selecting and realistically, the results will statistically weak, whichever way they come out.
It will be interesting to see the results posted here.