Forests Sourcebook - HCV Resource Network

Table 10.2 Listening to the Public
Key Points Advantages Disadvantages
Survey techniques • Interviews, formed surveys, polls, and • Show how groups want to be involved • Poor interviewing is counterproductive
questionnaires can rapidly show who • Allow direct communication with the • High cost
is interested and why. public • Requires specialists to deliver and analyze
• May be structured (using a fixed • Help access the views of the majority • Tradeoff between openness and statistical validity
questionnaire) or nonstructured. • Are less vulnerable to the influence of
• Experienced interviewers or surveyors vocal groups
familiar with the project should be used. • Identify concerns linked to social grouping
• Pre-test the questions. • Give statistically representative results
• Open-ended questions are best. • Can reach people who are not organized in groups
Small meetings • Public seminars or focus groups create • Allow detailed and focused discussion • Complex to organize and run
formal information exchanges between • Can exchange information and debate • Can be diverted by special interest groups
the sponsor and the public; may consist • Provide a rapid, low-cost monitor of public mood • Not objective or statistically valid
of randomly selected individuals or target • Provide a way to reach marginal groups • May be unduly influenced by moderators
group members; experts may be invited
to serve as a resource.
Large meetings • Public meetings allow the public to • Are useful for medium audiences • Not suitable for detailed discussions
respond directly to formal presentations • Allow immediate response and feedback • Not good for building consensus
by project sponsors. • Acquaint different interest groups • Can be diverted by special interest groups
• Effective meetings need a strong chairman, • Attendance is difficult to predict
a clear agenda, and good presenters or
resource people.
Conferences • Technical experts and representatives of • Impart specialized technical information • Time and effort needed to prepare
interest groups may be brought together. • Promote data sharing and compromise • Cost, if experts are hired
• Resolve technical issues
Community organizers • These work closely with a selected group • Mobilize difficult-to-reach groups • Potential conflicts between employers and clients
or advocates to facilitate informal contacts, visit homes • Time needed to get feedback
or work places, or simply be available to
the public.
Source: World Bank 1999: 6.
Note: This table, extensively abridged, was adapted from the World Bank’s The Public Participation Handbook (1996), which contains a full versios of the table and extensive supporting text
describing each tool.
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