Improving Environmental Indicators through Involvement of Experts, Stakeholders, and the Public

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1998-06

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Research Projects

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Abstract

This research was motivated by the need to identify characteristics of environmental indicators that are meaningful to the public so that these indicators will convey conditions of environmental quality. Four focus groups were conducted to gather qualitative data about expert, stakeholder, and public knowledge and understanding of environmental indicators. The Lake Erie Quality Index (LEQI) was used as a model of environmental indicators and focus group participants offered reactions and interpretations of the LEQI. Results identify the level of the public's understanding of indicators, suggest characteristics that make indicators useful, and identify differences between how experts, stakeholders and the public interpret environmental indicators. All three groups agree on the importance of developing measurable environmental indicators that can present sound scientific information to the public.

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Author Institution: School of Health Sciences, Ohio University

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The Ohio Journal of Science. v98, n3 (June, 1998), 52-58