Topic sensitivity still affects honest responding, even when specialized questioning techniques are used

Abstract

To develop more effective interventions, conservationists require robust information about the proportion of people who break conservation rules (such as those relating to protected species, or protected area legislation). Developed to obtain more accurate estimates of sensitive behaviors, including rule‐breaking, specialized questioning techniques such as Randomized Response Techniques (RRTs) are increasingly applied in conservation, but with mixed evidence of their effectiveness. We use a forced‐response RRT to estimate the prevalence of five rule‐breaking behaviors in communities living around the Ruaha–Rungwa ecosystem in Tanzania. Prevalence estimates obtained for all behaviors were negative or did not differ significantly from zero, suggesting the RRT did not work as expected and that respondents felt inadequately protected. To investigate, we carried out a second study to explore how topic sensitivity influenced respondents' propensity to follow RRT instructions. Results from this experimental study revealed respondents understood instructions well (~88% of responses were correct) but that propensity to follow RRT instructions was significantly influenced by the behavior asked about, and the type of answer they were required to provide. Our two studies highlight that even if RRTs are well understood by respondents, where topics are sensitive and respondents are wary of researchers, their use does not necessarily encourage more honest responding.

Co-management brings hope for effective biodiversity conservation and socio-economic development in Vwaza Marsh Wildlife Reserve in Malawi

“…We recommend a study on the spatial distribution of traps and snares in relation to animal occupancy, resource use zone and core zone to help channel resources for monitoring. So too, a study to quantify sensitive behaviour related to prohibited activities including poaching using specialised questioning techniques such as the Randomized Response Techniques (RRTs) (Ibbett et al, 2023) would help establish the prevelaence of such rule-breaking behaviours among community members in the Vwaza. Further, future conservation activities in the area should take into consideration age, gender, and membership to natural resource committees (NRCs) of the local communities as these appeared to significantly influence local communities' decisions, knowledge, and perceptions of conservation work.…”