3.1. Measuring environmental concern
Farmers’ level of concern about environmental quality
was measured in terms of ‘seriousness’ along a fivepart
scale ranging from ‘not at all serious’ to ‘very serious’,
with 5 indicating ‘very serious’. This approach
to measurement, along with the topics covered, was
taken in order to parallel and be consistent with other
environmental attitudinal surveys. Two sets of questions
were asked. One set dealt with general environmental
concerns from farming and industrial activities.
The other dealt specifically with effects of pesticide
use. This paper concentrates on beliefs relating to the
effects of agricultural chemicals.
Farm operators were first asked how serious they regarded
five types of water pollution: fertilizer runoff or
leaching, pesticide/chemical runoff or leaching, livestock
waste, factories and deforestation. The first three
areas are related to agricultural activities, whereas the
last two are non-agricultural. Only the first two were
relevant for this analysis. Farm operators were then
asked four questions on how they regarded the seriousness
of human illness or injury arising from various
pesticide exposure scenarios: from mixing/loading
pesticides, from applying pesticides, from residues on
food, and from pesticides or residues in drinking water.
Operators were also asked how they regarded the
seriousness of injury, disease or death to birds, fish,
or wildlife from pesticide exposure. Like other surveys
of its kind, this survey focuses on expressed preferences
(those stated by respondents) rather than revealed
preferences (those inferred from behavior).