Suppose that Torres-Porras decides to perform a second study where he will survey hunters to assess their behavior. He wrote 8 survey questions, but he wants you to select the 4 best questions. (The survey should be short so that hunters will be more likely to take it.)

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Torres-Porras supported his hypothesis that the tragedy of the commons is influencing populations of red deer. His results showed the predicted demographic differences between the fenced and unfenced populations of red deer. Recall that underlying his hypothesis is the assumption that hunter behavior differs between fenced and unfenced estates. Differences in hunting behavior would affect red deer population demographics. If Torres-Porras could show evidence that hunters do behave differently in fenced estates versus unfenced states, that would provide further support for his hypothesis that the tragedy of the commons is influencing the populations. Suppose that Torres-Porras decides to perform a second study where he will survey hunters to assess their behavior. He wrote 8 survey questions, but he wants you to select the 4 best questions. (The survey should be short so that hunters will be more likely to take it.)

Select the 4 best questions to include in the survey.

Be sure to avoid: Questions that are not strongly related to the predictions or hypothesis Questions that are complex or confusing Questions that directly ask participants about the hypothesis Questions with biased language

On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is very unlikely and 10 is very likely, how likely are you to harvest a female deer when you encounter one?

On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is very unlikely and 10 is very likely, how likely are you to harvest a male deer with short antlers when you encounter one?

On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is a little better and 10 is much better, how much better is it to harvest a male deer relative to a female deer?

On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is very unlikely and 10 is very likely, how likely are you to harvest a male deer with long antlers when you encounter one?

On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is very unlikely and 10 is very likely, how likely is it that the tragedy of the commons is occurring in unfenced estates?

On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is very unlikely and 10 is very likely, how likely are you to harvest a male deer with long antlers and a young female deer?

On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is very little control and 10 is a great deal of control, how much control do you feel you have over the population of deer where you hunt?

On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is very little and 10 is a great deal, how much do you like to hunt red deer?

Answer:

1. On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is very unlikely and 10 is very likely, how likely are you to harvest a male deer with short antlers when you encounter one?

2. On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is very little control and 10 is a great deal of control, how much control do you feel you have over the population of deer where you hunt?

3. On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is very unlikely and 10 is very likely, how likely are you to harvest a male deer with long antlers when you encounter one?

4. On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is very unlikely and 10 is very likely, how likely are you to harvest a female deer when you encounter one?

Explanation:

The questions selected are those that request information about behavior related to the tragedy of the commons: whether or not gender and age are factors that are heavily involved in the hunting collective behavior, with different results in fenced estates versus unfenced states, and the perception they have over the organization of the collective hunting activity.

Questions that provide too much information about the hypothesis, such as the likelihood of the tragedy of the commons occurring in unfenced estates, have been discarded. Asking about the likelihood of harvesting "a male deer with long antlers and a young female deer" may be confusing, and asking people how much they like to hunt is a biased question.