scholarly journals Can Field Crews Telecommute? Varied Data Quality from Citizen Science Tree Inventories Conducted Using Street-Level Imagery

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Berland ◽  
Lara A. Roman ◽  
Jess Vogt
Keyword(s):  
Data Quality ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Field Data ◽  
Urban Forest ◽  
Street Trees ◽  
Diameter Class ◽  
Tree Diameter ◽  
Street Level ◽  
Street Tree ◽  
High Level

Street tree inventories are a critical component of urban forest management. However, inventories conducted in the field by trained professionals are expensive and time-consuming. Inventories relying on citizen scientists or virtual surveys conducted remotely using street-level photographs may greatly reduce the costs of street tree inventories, but there are fundamental uncertainties regarding the level of data quality that can be expected from these emerging approaches to data collection. We asked 16 volunteers to inventory street trees in suburban Chicago using Google Street ViewTM imagery, and we assessed data quality by comparing their virtual survey data to field data from the same locations. We also compared virtual survey data quality according to self-rated expertise by measuring agreement within expert, intermediate, and novice analyst groups. Analyst agreement was very good for the number of trees on each street segment, and agreement was markedly lower for tree diameter class and tree identification at the genus and species levels, respectively. Interrater agreement varied by expertise, such that experts agreed with one another more often than novices for all four variables assessed. Compared to the field data, we observed substantial variability in analyst performance for diameter class estimation and tree identification, and some intermediate analysts performed as well as experts. Our findings suggest that virtual surveys may be useful for documenting the locations of street trees within a city more efficiently than field crews and with a high level of accuracy. However, tree diameter and species identification data were less reliable across all expertise groups, and especially novice analysts. Based on this analysis, virtual street tree inventories are best suited to collecting very basic information such as tree locations, or updating existing inventories to determine where trees have been planted or removed. We conclude with evidence-based recommendations for effective implementation of this type of approach.

The Effects of Residential Street Tree Spacing and Crown Interactions on Crown Dimensions and Canopy Cover

2021 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 183-195
Author(s):  
Bimal Aryal ◽  
James Steenberg ◽  
Peter Duinker
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Urban Forest ◽  
Canopy Cover ◽  
Interaction Effects ◽  
Projection Area ◽  
Street Trees ◽  
Street Tree ◽  
Crown Shape ◽  
Crown Projection Area ◽  
Crown Dimensions

Urban trees provide people with a range of ecosystem services. Trees planted along streets have been a large focus of urban forest research and practice, and municipalities invest significant resources in their survival. However, the optimal spacing of street trees is not addressed in the scientific literature, and existing municipal street tree spacing standards are highly variable and poorly enforced. In this study, we examine variability in crown shape and size for street trees to test for possible interaction effects at closer spacings. We measured variability in crown diameters both parallel and perpendicular to street tree rows to test whether changes in crown dimensions can be explained by interaction effects with neighbouring trees, and whether crown interactions lead to a reduction in total crown projection area (i.e., canopy cover). We measured the crown dimensions and diameter at breast height of 1,338 street trees in Halifax, Canada. We used two-way analysis of variance to test whether crown shape and crown projection area were affected by crown interactions and spacing. We found that the effect of narrower spacing and interactions (i.e., crowns touching/overlapping) among trees translated to crowns extending away from the direction of interaction. We also found that these changing crown dimensions were associated with increases in canopy cover. Urban forest ecosystems are a vital resource for the increasingly urban population. There is a need for empirical research on spacing standards and practices that investigate their influence on the supply of ecosystem services, such as stormwater retention, air pollution removal, and cooling.

scholarly journals Why Opt-in to a Planting Program? Long-term Residents Value Street Tree Aesthetics

2015 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dexter Locke ◽  
Lara Roman ◽  
Colleen Murphy-Dunning
Keyword(s):  
Urban Forest ◽  
Urban Forestry ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Tree Planting ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Capital Investments ◽  
New Haven ◽  
Street Trees ◽  
Street Tree

Many cities are making substantial capital investments in urban tree planting. Residents play active and diverse roles in enhancing and protecting the urban forest, and are therefore critical to many municipal-level policy objectives. The way residents perceive and value the urban forest can have implications for achieving urban forestry goals through residents and volunteers. However, urban residents are not a monolithic block or homogenous category; instead, they have diverse opinions, needs, and constraints. Moreover, relatively little is known about how residents hear about available resources, such as free trees, and decide to ‘opt-in’ to tree planting initiatives, choosing to plant and maintain trees on or near their properties. The focus of this study was to address three questions about participation in a request-driven program that provides free street trees to residents of New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.: 1) Who requests trees through this program? 2) How did the requesters hear about this program? 3) Why did residents request free street trees? Survey respondents were primarily long-term residents of New Haven; mostly learned about the opportunity from their neighbors; and requested a street tree to replace a removed tree, because they value the aesthetics, and to a lesser extent the environmental benefits. Future research should systematically investigate differences between participants and non-participants in local tree planting initiatives, exploring possible trends across cities and programs. Such studies would identify opportunities and barriers to engaging private residents in efforts aimed at increasing canopy.

Survey Data Quality in Analyzing Harmonized Indicators of Protest Behavior: A Survey Data Recycling Approach

2021 ◽  
pp. 000276422110216
Author(s):  
Kazimierz M. Slomczynski ◽  
Irina Tomescu-Dubrow ◽  
Ilona Wysmulek
Keyword(s):  
Data Processing ◽  
Data Quality ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Survey Quality ◽  
Survey Error ◽  
Ex Post ◽  
The Impact

This article proposes a new approach to analyze protest participation measured in surveys of uneven quality. Because single international survey projects cover only a fraction of the world’s nations in specific periods, researchers increasingly turn to ex-post harmonization of different survey data sets not a priori designed as comparable. However, very few scholars systematically examine the impact of the survey data quality on substantive results. We argue that the variation in source data, especially deviations from standards of survey documentation, data processing, and computer files—proposed by methodologists of Total Survey Error, Survey Quality Monitoring, and Fitness for Intended Use—is important for analyzing protest behavior. In particular, we apply the Survey Data Recycling framework to investigate the extent to which indicators of attending demonstrations and signing petitions in 1,184 national survey projects are associated with measures of data quality, controlling for variability in the questionnaire items. We demonstrate that the null hypothesis of no impact of measures of survey quality on indicators of protest participation must be rejected. Measures of survey documentation, data processing, and computer records, taken together, explain over 5% of the intersurvey variance in the proportions of the populations attending demonstrations or signing petitions.

scholarly journals Physical workload and increased frequency of musculoskeletal pain: a cohort study of employed men and women with baseline occasional pain

2021 ◽  
pp. oemed-2020-107094
Author(s):  
Kathryn Badarin ◽  
Tomas Hemmingsson ◽  
Lena Hillert ◽  
Katarina Kjellberg
Keyword(s):  
Survey Data ◽  
Musculoskeletal Pain ◽  
Leisure Time Physical Activity ◽  
Physical Workload ◽  
Job Exposure Matrix ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Strenuous Work ◽  
High Level

ObjectivesMusculoskeletal pain (MSP) is prevalent among the workforce. This study investigates the long-term association between physical workload (PWL) and increased frequency of MSP among male and female employees with pre-existing occasional MSP.MethodsThis study uses the Stockholm Public Health cohort survey data from the baseline 2006. The sample includes 5715 employees with baseline occasional MSP (no more than a few days per month). Eight PWL exposures and overall PWL were estimated using a job-exposure matrix (JEM). The JEM was assigned to occupational titles from a national register in 2006. Follow-up survey data on frequent MSP (a few or more times a week) were collected from 2010. Logistic regressions produced sex-specific ORs with 95% CIs and were adjusted for education, health conditions, psychological distress, smoking, BMI, leisure-time physical activity and decision authority.ResultsAssociations were observed between several aspects of heavy PWL and frequent MSP for men (eg, OR 1.57, 95% CI 1.13 to 2.20, among those in the highest exposure quartile compared with those in the lowest quartile for heavy lifting) and women (eg, OR 1.76, 95% CI 1.35 to 2.29, among those in the highest exposure quartile compared with those in the the lowest quartile for physically strenuous work). Small changes were observed in the OR after adjustment, but most of the ORs for PWL exposures among the men were no longer statistically significantly increased.ConclusionA high level of exposure to heavy PWL was associated with increased frequency of MSP 4 years later for men and women with baseline occasional pain.

Exploration of the technocratic mentality among European civil servants

2021 ◽  
pp. 002085232199642
Author(s):  
Ringa Raudla ◽  
James W. Douglas ◽  
Zachary Mohr
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Civil Servants ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Positive Interactions ◽  
Technical Knowledge ◽  
High Level ◽  
Proper Balance

Civil servants vary in the degree to which they hold technocratic attitudes. We explore whether bureaucrats’ exposure to politics and politicians is associated with the depoliticization dimension of the technocratic mentality. We use survey data of high-level executives in 19 European countries to explore factors that are associated with executives’ perceptions that removing issues and activities from the realms of politics leads to more farsighted policies. We find that respondents’ level of exposure to politics and politicians is indeed negatively associated with technocratic mentality. Bureaucrats have studied political science or public administration, work closer to politicians (in terms of type of organization), interact with them more frequently, and have more positive perceptions of these interactions tend to have lower levels of technocratic attitudes. Points for practitioners Beliefs affect behaviors and behaviors affect outcomes. Technocratic attitudes may limit the ability of civil servants to work effectively with politicians. We show that educational degrees that promote democratic values and exposure to politicians (particularly positive interactions) are associated with lower levels of technocratic attitudes. Given that a proper balance between political and technical knowledge can enhance organizational performance (Krause et al., 2006), these findings should be taken into account when staffing and structuring public organizations.

scholarly journals Cognitive load reduction strategies in questionnaire design

2021 ◽  
pp. 147078532098679
Author(s):  
Kylie Brosnan ◽  
Bettina Grün ◽  
Sara Dolnicar
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Load ◽  
Data Quality ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Task Difficulty ◽  
Questionnaire Design ◽  
Load Reduction ◽  
The Past ◽  
Load Theory ◽  
Learning Tasks ◽  
Reduction Strategies

Survey data quality suffers when respondents have difficulty completing complex tasks in questionnaires. Cognitive load theory informed the development of strategies for educators to reduce the cognitive load of learning tasks. We investigate whether these cognitive load reduction strategies can be used in questionnaire design to reduce task difficulty and, in so doing, improve survey data quality. We find that this is not the case and conclude that some of the traditional survey answer formats, such as grid questions, which have been criticized in the past lead to equally good data and do not frustrate respondents more than alternative formats.

Cross-Borehole ERT: Sensitivity, Model Resolution, and Field Data Quality

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
L.M. Madsen ◽  
A.K. Kühl ◽  
L. Levy ◽  
A.V. Christiansen
Keyword(s):  
Data Quality ◽  
Field Data ◽  
Model Resolution

scholarly journals Maintaining the Diversity of California’s Municipal Forests

2010 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-27
Author(s):  
Robert Muller ◽  
Carol Bornstein
Keyword(s):  
Invasive Species ◽  
New Species ◽  
Experimental Approach ◽  
Urban Forest ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Management Plan ◽  
Forest Diversity ◽  
Street Tree ◽  
Forest Management Plan ◽  
Urban Forest Management

Policies to promote urban forest diversity were assessed in 49 California, U.S. municipalities through a short questionnaire, followed by evaluation of street tree inventories and approved planting lists. While the majority of respondents (82%) indicated maintaining species diversity was an objective in managing their municipal forest, fewer than half of those responding positively (48%) had codified the objective in an actual urban forest management plan. Protecting against invasive species was an objective for a minority of communities (24%). Street tree inventories, provided by 18 respondents, indicated a high existing diversity within the communities of the state of California (avg. 185 species per community; range 95–408). In communities where both inventories and approved planting lists could be compared directly, the number of approved species for future planting was 29% of the number of species in the existing inventory. This suggests that the future diversity of California’s urban forests may be at risk. In order to improve diversity of their municipal forests, it is suggested communities retain an experimental approach to evaluating new species, build productive collaborations with all stakeholders as well as other communities, and develop outreach opportunities to enhance public awareness of the multiple values of a diverse urban forest.

Climate change: An increase in norms for inclusion predicts greater fit and commitment for women in STEM

2021 ◽  
pp. 136843022110354
Author(s):  
William Hall ◽  
Toni Schmader ◽  
Michelle Inness ◽  
Elizabeth Croft
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Organizational Commitment ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Field Data ◽  
Workplace Culture ◽  
Longitudinal Analyses ◽  
Longitudinal Field ◽  
Stem Fields ◽  
Organizational Value ◽  
Policies And Practices

In male-dominated STEM fields, workplace culture is often cited as a factor for women’s attrition. In the present research, we used longitudinal field data to examine how changes in the perceived normative support for gender-inclusive policies and practices over 6 months relate to changes in women’s and men’s experiences of fit and commitment to their organization. Longitudinal analyses of survey data from a sample of 181 engineers revealed that increased perceptions of support for gender-inclusive policies and practices predicted increased organizational commitment only among women, an effect that was mediated by an increase in organizational value fit. Additional analyses suggest that perceptions of change in normative attitudes toward inclusive policies were more predictive of women’s organizational commitment than the awareness that the policies were in place or that one has personally benefitted from them. The implications of an inclusive workplace culture for supporting women’s retention in STEM are discussed.

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