Coastal Services Center

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ATTITUDES, PERCEPTIONS, AND BELIEFS

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Examines factors influencing human preferences, choices, and actions and how these behaviors affect marine protected areas.

The attitudes, perceptions, and beliefs theme covers the underlying motivations that influence human preferences, choices, and actions. It examines the factors that shape human behavior and how these behaviors affect and are affected by marine protected areas. Some areas addressed here include public preferences, stakeholder expectations, quality of life, and aesthetic values.

Possible Questions

• How do users perceive management agencies and policies?
• What do MPA resource users know about the marine resource environment and its use?
• How do people value the marine environment? MPAs?
• What do people expect of a particular MPA over the short and long terms?
• What do people believe the effect of MPAs will be on their jobs and livelihoods?

What Are Some Tools I Can Use?

Observation	Historical Research	Case Study Research
Interviewing	Content Analysis	Focus Groups
Social Assessment	Surveys	Rapid Rural Appraisal
Secondary Data Analysis