Current participant questionnaires
A simple questionnaire was designed to explore the motivations
and past behaviour of individuals that currently participate in a
wildlife recording scheme. The questionnaire was based around
three themes: motivations and benefits for involvement with
the recording scheme; barriers to involvement; and behaviour
regarding other environmental groups or societies (Table 2). Open
questions were used as a tool for investigating perceptions and
behaviour of participants (White, Jennings, Renwick, & Barker,
2005).
Demographic
information
other
than
postcodes
was
not
col-
lected from participants in an attempt to maximise response rate.
We posted the participant questionnaires to a random sample
of
participants
in
the
British
Trust
for
Ornithology
(BTO)
Garden
BirdWatch
(a
national
scheme;
300
participants
contacted)
and
all
the
participants
in
the
Leeds
Garden
Pond
Survey
(LGPS;
a
local
scheme;
120
participants
contacted).
Participants
received
two
cover letters, one from the scheme organiser and one from the
researcher
introducing
the
research
and
giving
respondents
the
opportunity to opt out of having their words included as quotes.