Update on Project Activities
This week, we continued digitizing the remaining paper surveys, began and finished cleaning up the data, and checked in with Violet. The digitizing process wasn’t as straightforward as we initially thought it would be for there were some problems with the surveys themselves as well as with the language some of the surveys were filled out in. The cleaning up of data has removed what isn’t essential and will make future analysis easier. The meeting with Violet was a digital one where the project and its aspects were discussed. What We Observed and Learned As the paper surveys were being digitized, we found that some weren’t completed correctly, typically this was because a survey wasn’t completely filled out or directions weren’t properly followed. This led to us not being able to digitize these surveys though KoBoToolbox, the online platform that we are using to collect survey responses for KoBoToolbox will only process a survey if it is filled out correctly. However, since the data from KoBoToolbox is being exported to a Google Sheet for data analysis purposes, the information that we were unable to upload through KoBToolbox was directly written onto the Google Sheet for it might prove to be valuable in the future. There were some forms that were filled out in Tongan and Samoan, languages that nobody on the team knows how to read, however we will seek out someone who does so that we can properly digitize them. While going through the data on the Google sheet, some survey entries had to be deleted because they were either a test response (a response to evaluate whether or not the survey was working properly) or were a duplicate. Information was standardized so that if certain aspects of the data, such as addresses later needed to be plugged into a GIS mapping tool, there wouldn’t be any problems regarding formatting. Besides this, irrelevant information that was imported onto the Google Sheet due to the way KoBoToolbox encodes its exported data was removed so that the data is easier to understand. In our digital meeting with Violet, she went into more depth explaining the survey’s purpose and the team’s role. She explained that the survey was created in order to understand the level of community awareness regarding climate change. By knowing current awareness and levels of concern, action planners will be able to determine what courses of action to take for they will know what needs to be prioritized. The team’s role is to help action planners reach the state where they can effectively begin to make informed decisions. In order for this final state to be reached, the team will present the current awareness and levels of concern as well as other findings from the survey, such as concentrations of concern, specific racial breakdowns, and how language plays a role in the larger picture. Critical Analysis/Moving Forward Although specific examples of what can be presented to the action planners was included in the final paragraph of the last section, those were only some possibilities that were discussed and it is unclear as to whether or not such information will help the action planners. For this reason, a list of of potential pathways (listed below) for the data was given to Violet so that she can discuss the possibilities with the action planners on a meeting that is happening on the 14th of this month, doing so will allow for the team to take a more guided approach to the data. This meeting will be attended by the team in order to listen to what is being discussed as well as to get to meet the action planners. -Relationship between climate change awareness/community concern and age -Relationship between climate change awareness/community concern and gender -Relationship between climate change awareness/community concern and race/ethnicity -Relationship between climate change awareness/community concern and location -Relationship between climate change awareness/community concern and response language -Relationship between response to “What comes to mind when you hear the term ‘climate change?’” and response to “How much do you think climate change will harm the East Palo Alto community?” (gauge relationship between knowledge and concern) Besides this meeting, there are two EPA Adaptation Planning Meetings, one on the 25th and the other on the 26th of this month that will also be attended by the team in order to further discuss the project and how work has progressed. Survey collections will continue until the end of this month. Collections will mainly be done by other organizations but there are existing opportunities for the team to help in the collection process. One of these opportunities in on the 12th of this month and the other is on the 17th. Who will be able to go from the team is currently being figured out. Comments are closed.
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