Transcript Disengaged, doubtful or dismissive

Regional Attitudes towards Climate
Change
2C3D Group
Participants: 2 Cautious
1Dismissive
1Doubtful
1Disengaged
gCore Fall 2011
Ashley McBee, Matthew Elswick, Stephanie Huck,
Melissa Peterson, Aaron Zimmer
Our breakout group was comprised of 2 participants from
the Cautious category, and 1 each from the Disengaged,
Doubtful, and Dismissive categories.
It is interesting to note: of the 42 interviews our class
conducted, the last three Six Americas categories were
represented by only one person each.
This means that among the Olympians our class
interviewed: only 2.3% of respondents were disengaged,
doubtful and dismissive, compared to 12%, 11%, and 7%,
respectively, from the national survey.
Because of the disparate nature of our group, synthesis of
the information was a little more difficult.
Our matrices might look different than other groups who had
a more homogenous grouping of opinion and attitude.
From the Six
America's Study :
The Cautious believe that global
warming is a problem, although
they are less certain that it is
happening than the Alarmed or
the Concerned; they don’t view it
as a personal threat, and don’t
feel a sense of urgency to deal
with it.
From the Six
America's Study :
The Disengaged haven’t
thought much about the
issue at all, don’t know much
about it, and are the most
likely to say that they could
easily change their minds
about global warming.
From the Six
America's Study :
The Doubtful are evenly split among
those who think global warming is
happening, those who think it isn’t, and
those who don’t know. Many within this
group believe that if global warming is
happening, it is caused by natural
changes in the environment, believe
global warming won’t harm people for
many decades into the future, if at all,
and say that America is already doing
enough to respond to the threat.
From the Six
America's Study :
The Dismissive, like the Alarmed,
are actively engaged in the issue,
but on the opposite end of the
spectrum; the majority believe that
warming is not happening, is not a
threat to either people or nonhuman nature, and strongly
believe it is not a problem that
warrants a national response.
Our Study:
Interviewers
• Cautious (interviewed by SH & MP)
• Disengaged (interviewed by
Matthew)
• Doubtful (interviewed by Ashley)
• Dismissive (interviewed by Aaron)
Keywords and Themes
1) Distrust or Disconnection from Media
• Media
• Policy
• Lay People
vs Experts
• Polar
Bears
• Weather
2) Uncertainty regarding efficacy of
governmental public policy
3) Majority feeling of disbelief in
anthropogenic climate change
4) Polarized views about Climate Change
5) Majority feeling of not having enough
information
Matrices
Keywords
Keywords
Cautious
(SH, MP)
Disengaged
(ME)
Doubtful
(AM)
Dismissive
(AZ)
Media
Not credible
Not interested
Misinformed
Controlling, Profiteering
Supportive
Success in US, Failure in World
Generational
Lack of Knowledge
Manipulated
Policy
Conditionally
Conditionally
Supportive/Skeptical Supportive
Lay People Panicked/Uneducat
ed
Experts
Trusted/Scientists
Universities
Knowledgeable
Controlling
Polar Bears
X/Unconcerned
Concerned
X
X
Weather
Unusual/Unchanged
Windier
No Noticeable Changes
Worse
Matrices (2)
Sources of Information
Cautious (SP,
MP)
Disengaged
(ME)
Doubtful (AM) Dismissive (AZ)
Informatio Not
Not
Not
Not
Trusted
Trusted
Trusted
Trusted
n Sources Trusted
Trusted
Trusted
Trusted
TV
(General)
3
X
X
4
2
X
3
X
Newspaper
8
X
X
X
1
X
2
1
X
12
X
X
1
2
3
X
1
12
X
12
X
0
X
4
3
7
X
2
1
9
X
1
Scientific
Research
Internet
Tally
Matrices
Source of Information Tallies
Information
Sources
Not Trusted
Trusted
TV
(General)
8
4
Newspaper
11
1
Scientific
Research
4
14
Internet
5
0
Tally
28
19
Surprising Outcomes
• Cautious participants were either uninterested in
the human element and policy to alter climate
change or believed anthropogenic climate change
was fabricated by money-hungry media sources.
• Disengaged participant mentioned they had not
seen or heard media coverage on climate change.
• Dismissive participant believed that the United
States had already curbed any of its possible
contribution to climate change.
• Doubtful “anti-government” participant would
support public policy based on valid climate
change research.
Conclusions and Future
Work
• Applicable future work might include qualitative
research aimed at getting a better understanding of
our participant groups’ understanding and points of
view; WHY they believe what they believe. It would be
valuable to know what kind of information angle it
would take for them to believe in or act based on
Climate Change.
• Also, research their information base, such as the
book:
Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1500 Years
Singer, S.F., Avery, D.T., 2007. Rowan and Littlefield Publishers
2C3D
Group
Thank you.