NJSL Digital Collections :: Browsing by Author "Johnson, Branden B."

Browsing by Author "Johnson, Branden B."

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Communicating Status and Trends in Environmental Quality : Reactions of Legislative Staff, Reporters, Activists, and Citizens: Research Project Summary
(Trenton, N.J. : New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Science, Research and Technology, 2003-05) Johnson, Branden B.; Chess, Caron; Gibson, Ginger
When agencies wish to communicate the status or trend in an environmental condition (for example, whether ozone levels currently exceed the federal ambient standard; whether ozone levels have been declining in the past 20 years), they often use quantitative information, particularly in the form of a chart or graph. This research project explored how various audiences would react to visual presentations of status and trend measures across a variety of environmental topics (air quality, drinking water quality, endangered species, etc.). The general reaction was positive, although people attentive to government (legislative staff, reporters, activists) were more skeptical about the information than were ordinary citizens. Making status and trend presentations understandable and accurate can be a problem, and many citizens made the error of inferring local environmental conditions from measures that used statewide data only.
Establishing Dialogue: Planning for Success : A Guide to Effective Communication Planning
(Trenton, N.J. : Department of Environmental Protection and Energy, Division of Science and Research, 1992-01-09) Pflugh, Kerry Kirk; Shaw, Judith Auer; Johnson, Branden B.
Establishing Dialogue: Planning for Successful Environmental Management: A Guide to Effective Communication Planning
(Trenton, N.J. : New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Science and Research, 2014) Pflugh, Kerry Kirk; Shaw, Judith Auer; Johnson, Branden B.; New Jersey. Department of Environmental Protection. Division of Science and Research. Risk Communication Unit
Outrage and Technical Detail: The Impact of Agency Behavior on Community Risk Perception: Research Project Summary
(Trenton, N.J. : Department of Environmental Protection and Energy, Division of Science and Research, 1992-11) Johnson, Branden B.; Sandman, Peter M.
When citizens see officials being sensitive to their concerns about environmental problems, do citizen concerns about risk decrease? What happens when government staff do not respect public concerns? New Jersey homeowners were asked to read news stories showing how a NJDEPE spokesperson responded to citizen concerns about environmental problems. For the stories where the official ignored public concerns, readers saw the environmental health risks as higher and government behavior as less appropriate. News stories with more detailed technical information about health effects and exposure pathways of environmental hazards did not affect risk perceptions. These research results suggest that agency relations with the public and the effectiveness of management decisions will improve when officials directly address public concerns, although respect for citizen concerns alone cannot eliminate conflict with the public over risks.
Perceived Impacts of Fish Consumption Advisories on the Recreational Fishing Boat Industry in New Jersey: Research Project Summary
(Trenton, N.J. : New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Science, Research and Technology, 2003-05) Johnson, Branden B.; Burger, Joanna; Shukla, Sheila; Gochfeld, Michael
Captains of New Jersey party and charter fishing boats were interviewed about fish consumption advisories, to address a charge to the New Jersey Mercury Task Force to identify economic impacts of such advisories. Overall, boat captains identified advisories as a moderate influence on their business, less important than market forces and fish management regulations, and those who thought it was a strong factor were not more likely to specialize in species subject to mercury or PCB advisories than were other captains. Boat captains had a mix of correct and incorrect views about fish consumption advisories, which may affect the advisory knowledge of many salt-water recreational anglers. Education directed at party and charter boat captains could be important in educating salt-water anglers about fish consumption advisories.
Public Evaluations of Reservoir Protection: Research Project Summary
(Trenton, N.J. : Department of Environmental Protection and Energy, Division of Science and Research, 1992-10) Johnson, Branden B.; Welsh, Michael
New Jersey citizens indicated very strong support for preserving existing natural zones around water supply reservoirs, using the Wanaque-Monksville Reservoir system as a case study. These citizens also supported the acquisition of additional natural zones around reservoirs if needed to protect water quality, and regulation of land uses around water supply sources without such buffer zones. This support for control of lands around water sources was very strong, whether among users of reservoir water, residents around the reservoir, or people who fished on the reservoir.
Public Reaction to Annual Reports on Drinking Water Quality: Research Project Summary
(Trenton, N.J. : New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Science, Research and Technology, 2003-10) Johnson, Branden B.
Several survey experiments in New Jersey explored customer reactions to Consumer Confidence Reports (CCRs) on drinking water quality that utilities are required to make available to their customers each year. CCRs received from utilities are quickly forgotten; on average, reactions are positive, but evaluations of water quality change little. Qualitative reports (i.e., without the required water quality tables) were rated lower than quantitative CCRs. Adding information about protection of water source quality was welcomed. People reacted no differently to hypothetical CCRs with and without Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) violations. Customers wanted all required CCR information and more. Reactions to required CCR formats and texts, and plausible alternatives, differed hardly at all. Many people could not identify hypothetical MCL violations in CCRs, and ranges of detected contaminant levels required in CCR tables were particularly hard to interpret in comparisons to MCLs. Attitudes to water quality seem shaped more by personal experience of tap water quality and of the utility than by CCR content. Improving tap water aesthetics, even beyond compliance with secondary standards, might most improve customers' views of its safety.
Public Reaction to Risk Comparisons: Research Project Summary
(Trenton, N.J. : New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Science, Research and Technology, 2003-08) Johnson, Branden B.
"Risk comparisons"-comparison of specific risk values (e.g., of ambient air or soil pollution) to standards or to risk levels from other activities or at other locations-have been urged to help the public "put risks in context." However, little research has been conducted on actual public reactions to risk comparisons. Focus groups and a series of survey experiments with New Jersey residents explored those reactions. People rated risk comparisons as informative, wanted similar risk comparison information from government agencies or companies, and (usually) felt the information in the comparisons was understandable. However, risk comparisons had modest to weak impacts on people's risk views. For example, people's reactions to various hazards seemed driven more by their beliefs about risks in general or by who they were (e.g., women were more concerned) than by the format or content of comparisons about the hazards' risks. When a risk comparison did seem to have an effect, such as reducing judgments of risk magnitude, criticism of the comparison could undermine its effects; however, mentioning potential criticisms when the comparison was first presented offset the effect of the criticism. Adding an explicit claim about risk acceptability-"So our factory's risks should be acceptable to you"-did not appreciably affect reactions to the comparisons, despite speculation that such claims would alienate audiences. Overall, the results suggest that risk comparisons can be appreciated by public audiences, but they require careful design and pre-testing before use, and their effects can be qualitatively or quantitatively different from what the advocates of such comparisons expect.
Public Response to Uncertainty in Environmental Risk Estimates: Research Project Summary
(Trenton, N.J. : New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Science, Research and Technology, 2003-06) Johnson, Branden B.; Slovic, Paul
Scientists and officials often wish to publicize their estimates of environmental health risk, which always have some uncertainty. Risk communicators have urged uncertainty be part of the message. The research reported here is among the first to test public reactions to such messages. The few other studies done suggested public reactions could vary from greater risk aversion to no effect to greater acceptance of risks. The research summarized here explored reactions to numeric estimates of uncertainty, particularly in ranges of risk estimates. It included federally funded research for which Johnson and Slovic collected data mostly in Oregon, and research by Johnson with New Jersey data; results were similar and involved the same lead author, so both are reported here for a fuller explanation of public response to environmental risk uncertainties.
What NJDEP Managers and Staff Think About Communicating with the Public, and Improving Agency Infrastructure for Supporting Program Communications: Research Project Summary
(Trenton, N.J. : New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Science, Research and Technology, 2006-06) Johnson, Branden B.
Interviews were conducted with managers and staff of NJDEP about their respective programs’ communications with the public. Two unique perspectives were revealed. The perspective that researchers labeled as “Enthusiastic” emphasized that program managers and program culture supported communication, it was everyone’s job, and the program used its experience for continuous improvement of communications that were not required by law or regulation. The perspective labeled “Constrained” emphasized the lack of operational resources (time, expertise, access to decision-makers), the difficulty of responding to public demand for more or better communications, reliance on common sense rather than training, and increasing communication when need for public acceptance increased. Both groups felt communication was essential to program success, and tended to downplay public or other external barriers to external communication effectiveness. More generally, interviewees noted that proactive communication and evaluation of communication were both desirable but erratic. Use of job performance appraisals to specifically assess individuals’ communication with the public, and praise for good communication performance, was thought to vary widely. While the Office of Communications and the Press Office did garner praise, many interviewees thought their services were little known or used, or could be improved with better communication between them and programs. Recommendations for improving agency infrastructure to support program communications thus included increasing program commitment to communication (through both attitudinal and operational resources), increasing proactive communication and evaluation, encouraging use of job performance appraisals to foster good communication, and clarifying communication and relations between central communication offices and programs.

Browsing by Author "Johnson, Branden B."

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