ABSTRACT
This book aims to provide a sound grounding in social science research methods for students and professionals working in the fi eld of environmental conservation. Traditionally, conservation has been the domain of biologists, and an understanding of the biology of the species and habitats we wish to conserve will always be essential to successful conservation management. However, it is obvious that this alone is not enough. Most of the drivers of environmental change are social – they are to do with people – and therefore many of the biggest, most urgent challenges facing conservationists are to do with social, economic and political systems. Biological expertise is obviously of limited use in dealing with these issues, and yet around the world, practising conservationists trained in biology are called upon regularly to take management decisions regarding social issues. At a more theoretical level, our current understanding of social issues in conservation is fragmented and, in many subject areas, rudimentary. There is therefore an urgent need to develop social science expertise within the broad discipline of conservation. That is not to say that all conservationists should become social scientists, but they need to be able to work across disciplinary boundaries, whether alone or in multidisciplinary teams, and there is a strong argument that in order to do so successfully, they need a basic understanding of the principles of both the natural sciences and the social sciences. This book is designed to fi ll a gap in the training resources available to accomplish this goal by providing conservationists with a substantive introduction to the principles and practice of social science research.
