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1.  INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES

The Environmental Reporting Team (EREP) at the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) is currently undertaking a users review of the Environment New Zealand 2007 report.  Central to the review, is the need to obtain feedback from recipients of the report, to determine:

  1. to what extent they are aware of the report;
  2. how frequently and in what way they have used the report;
  3. their opinions of the report in terms of its layout, design, and readability;
  4. their opinions of the report contents and overall usefulness;
  5. any suggestions that users may have for strengthening future publications prepared under the Ministry’s environmental reporting framework.  This includes regular (in many cases annual) updates of the environmental indicators used in the Environment New Zealand 2007 report, and the next national-level state of the environment report (scheduled for publication in 2012).

Peter Glen Research has been commissioned to undertake an independent research project for obtaining the feedback.  The research was undertaken by way of an online telephone survey, coupled with two focus group discussions.

The results of the research are presented in this report.

2.  METHOD

2.1.  Overall approach

As mentioned above, the research was undertaken by way of:

  1. an online, self-completion survey of report recipients, in order to quantitatively evaluate their response to the report publication; and
  2. two focus group discussions among key target groups (government sector and NGOs), to add qualitative insight to their usage and opinions of the report publication.

2.2.  The online, self-completion survey

The steps involved in this research project were as follows:

  1. A structured questionnaire was prepared in consultation with EREP.
  2. Peter Glen Research set-up the online questionnaire and data-capture facility.
  3. MfE sent a letter, using a combination of email and post, to an initial list of approximately 1000 recipients of the Environment New Zealand 2007 report.  The purpose of the letter was to advise the recipients of the research, encourage their participation and inform them of Peter Glen Research’s role as an independent market research agency.  A hyperlink was included to enable participants to access the online questionnaire.
  4. A reminder letter was sent to selected recipients approximately midway through the suggested fieldwork period, to help improve response levels.
  5. After the cut-off date for returns, Peter Glen Research analysed and tabulated the completed online responses, which are presented in this interpretative report.

2.3.  Response rate

A total of 254 respondents completed the online questionnaire, which is a response rate of approximately 25% of the people who were initially asked to participate.

The sector profile indicates that a broad cross-section of opinion was obtained, as follows:

Sample profile No. %
Central government agency 16 6
Local government 36 14
Industry/business 33 13
Professional association 13 5
Crown Research Institute 21 8
Environmental organisation /NGO 11 5
Iwi/Maori 6 3
Educational institution 28 11
General public 49 19
Not specified 41 16
Total 254 100%


2.4.  The focus group discussions

Two focus group discussions were undertaken with a selected sample of participants from the government sector and the NGOs that form key target-groups for the Environment New Zealand 2007 report.  A total of twelve people participated in the group sessions.

MfE initially wrote to potential participants, to inform them of the research and to seek their co-operation.  Peter Glen Research then contacted the selected sample (by telephone and/or email) and recruited them for the group sessions.

The focus groups were held in MfE’s central Wellington office.  However, it was stressed to participants that the group sessions were being moderated by an independent researcher, in order to foster free discussion about the publication (gaining both positive and negative input, as appropriate).

Peter Glen, the principal of Peter Glen Research, facilitated the group discussions.  A Discussion Guide was used to ensure that all relevant areas of interest were covered in the group session.

The overall purpose of the group discussions was to add insight to the range of responses obtained via the online survey.

 

3.  Information Obtained

Copies of the questionnaire and discussion guide are included as section 7 of this report.


4. Timing

The online survey ran from the 5th to 30th May 2008.  The focus group discussions were held on 6th and 7th May 2008.

 

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