Third National Climate Assessment Users Survey

I nstrument

Invitation

Month XX 2016

Attn: [NCA3 User Groups]

Re: Invitation: Third National Climate Assessment Users Survey

Greetings,

You are invited to participate in a survey of users of the Third National Climate Assessment.

As part of NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) Climate Assessment activities, Dantzker Consulting, LLC, has been contracted by North Carolina State University’s Institute for Climate Studies (NCICS/CICS-NC) to conduct a third-party, external evaluation of the Third National Climate Assessment Processes and Products to inform future assessments. New Knowledge Organization Ltd. is administering this survey as part of this effort.

This survey is specific to the Third National Climate Assessment, released in June 2014, otherwise known as “NCA3”.

Is this survey meant for me?

We have identified you as a potential user of the Third National Climate Assessment. We are interested in learning about the extent to which you may or may not have used the report and its related resources.

If you have used, or have considered using, the NCA3, we invite you to participate. We are particularly interested in your brief response if you have chosen not to use the NCA in your work.

Your input is valuable for the improvement of future National Climate Assessments.

We expect this survey to take no more than 10-15 minutes of your time.

Voluntary Nature of Survey, Consent, and Research Contact Information: Your participation in this survey is completely voluntary. Your responses to survey questions are anonymous. Therefore, the risks associated with your participation are minimal. You can choose not to respond to any questions you do not wish to answer. Only completely de-identified data will be made available to NCICS/CICS-NC. If you have any questions regarding the rights of participants, you may contact Solutions IRB at [email protected], 855-226-4472 and reference IRB ID# 2016/04/20. If you have questions about the survey, please contact Dr. Rupu Gupta at New Knowledge Organization Ltd. by phone 347-766-3399 or by email at [email protected]. You may also contact Dr. Heather Dantzker, Project Director, at 607-592-6040 or [email protected].

To access the survey, please go to: <developers survey URL>.

Sincerely,

Rupu Gupta, Ph.D., Co-PI Heather Dantzker, Ph.D., Project Director

Welcome page

This survey is being conducted as part of a third-party evaluation of the Third National Climate Assessment Processes and Products being conducted by Dantzker Consulting, LLC, and its partners, under contract with the North Carolina State University Institute for Climate Studies (CICS-NC) and with support from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). New Knowledge Organization Ltd. is administering this survey as part of this effort. Special note: This survey is specific to the Third National Climate Assessment (NCA), released in June 2014 (NCA3,) and does not pertain to previous NCAs.

Purpose: The purpose of this survey is to better understand how individuals are using National Climate Assessment resources. Findings will help inform future National Climate Assessment efforts.

Your input is valuable for the improvement of future National Climate Assessments.

Who should participate: If you have used, or have considered using, the National Climate Assessment –NCA3 and/or its related resources, we invite to participate. We are particularly interested in your brief response if you have chosen not to use the NCA in your work.

Informed Consent: The survey is expected to take 10-15 minutes of your time. Your participation in this survey is completely voluntary. Your responses to survey questions are anonymous. Therefore, the risks associated with your participation are minimal. You can choose not to respond to any questions you do not wish to answer. 

Survey instructions: You can participate in the survey on your computer or mobile device. If you choose to complete the survey in more than one sitting, you can exit the survey at any time and restart where you left off. Just make sure your browser is set up to remember its browsing history. 

Contact information: If you have any questions regarding the rights of participants, you may contact Solutions IRB at [email protected], 855-226-4472 and reference IRB ID# 2016/04/20. If you have questions about the survey, please contact Dr. Rupu Gupta at New Knowledge Organization Ltd. by phone 347-766-3399 or by email at [email protected]. You may also contact Dr. Heather Dantzker, Project Director, at 607-592-6040 or [email protected].

OMB Public Reporting Statement: Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 10-15 minutes per participant, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other suggestions for reducing this burden to Janice Mills, CICS-NC, 151 Patton Ave., Asheville, NC 28801.

Notwithstanding any other provisions of the law, no person is required to respond to, nor shall any person be subjected to a penalty for failure to comply with, a collection of information subject to the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act, unless that collection of information displays a currently valid OMB Control Number. 

 

Thank you for choosing to participate!      

OMB Control No. 0648-0342 

Expiration Date: 5/31/2018    

 

NCA3 Users Survey

This survey is about your experience as a potential user of the Third National Climate Assessment Report (NCA3) that was published in May 2014, cited as:

Melillo, Jerry M., Terese (T.C.) Richmond, and Gary W. Yohe, Eds., 2014: Climate Change Impacts in the United States: The Third National Climate Assessment. U.S. Global Change Research Program, 841 pp. doi:10.7930/J0Z31WJ2.

You may be familiar with the first two NCA reports as well. However, for the purpose of this survey, consider your experience specifically with the NCA3 and its related products. Unless specified, by “NCA3” we mean this report and its related products.

LEARNING ABOUT THE NCA3

1. How did you first become aware of the NCA3 and related products? (Select all that apply)

• Through the NCANet

• Through the USGCRP listserv

• Invited to participate in the public engagement phase before the NCA3 release

• Colleague outside my organization

• Colleague in my organization

• Professional Event

• News Media

• Social Media

• Found myself through web search

• Other: _________________

2. Did you participate in the Public Engagement phase of the NCA3 development to provide feedback to better meet the needs of potential users?

 Yes  No

3. In what contexts have used information from the NCA3? Select all that apply.

I have used the report content to…

• Inform my STEM research

• Inform my social science research

• Make decisions for my business

• Make legal decisions

• Develop curriculum in K-12

• Develop curriculum in higher education

• Develop programs in informal education institutions

• Evaluate programs

• To inform government planning

  • Municipal or City

  • County

  • Regional

  • State

  • Multi-state or Interstate

  • Federal or National-level

• To inform tribal planning

• Create climate science related policy

• Make other federal decisions

• Create awareness of climate science in communities

• Learn more about climate science for my personal use

• I have not used the report in any way

• Other (please describe): ___________________

(

NCA3 PRODUCTS

4. Thinking about your use of the NCA3, indicate which of the following parts have you used and how often you have used them.

	Never	Rarely	Often	All the time
NCA3 full report				
Highlights information				
Overview information				
Our Changing Climate information				
Sectoral information				
Regional information				
Response Strategies information				
Appendix – Climate Science Supplement and Frequently Asked Questions				
Graphics				
Metadata				

[For all products for which responses apart from “Never” were chosen]

5. In what format do you primarily use the products you indicated in the earlier question?

	Online on the NCA3 website	Downloaded file (pdf, ptx, png, etc.)	Both online and the downloaded file
			

[If Regions is selected].
6. To the best of your knowledge, which Regional chapters have you used? (please select all that apply).

• Alaska

• Great Plains

• Hawaii and Pacific Islands

• Midwest

• Northeast

• Northwest

• Southeast

• Southwest

• Coasts

• Oceans

• Rural Communities

[If Sectors is selected].
7. To the best of your knowledge, which sector chapters have you used? (please select all that apply).

• Agriculture

• Ecosystems

• Water

• Transportation

• Forests

• Human Health

• Energy

• Energy, Water, and Land

• Urban

• Indigenous Peoples

• Land Use and Land Cover Change

• Rural Communities

• Biogeochemical Cycles

8. To the best of your knowledge, which of the Response strategy chapters have you used? (please select all that apply).

• Decision Support

• Mitigation

• Adaptation

• Research Needs

• Sustained Assessment

ACCESSING THE NCA3 CONTENT

9. Please tell us about your overall experience accessing and navigating NCA3 online resources, indicating your agreement with the following statements.

Thinking about the last time you accessed the NCA3 online:	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neither Agree nor Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree	Not applicable
I found the NCA3 website easy to navigate.					
Navigating the NCA3 website got easier over time.
It was easy to find the information I was seeking on the NCA3 website.
The files with graphics were easy to navigate.
The NCA is written in a style appropriate for my needs.
NCA3 products are visually appealing.
NCA3 graphics helped me better understand the content.

QUALITY OF THE NCA3

10. Tell us about your overall experience with the NCA3 as a resource for climate change information, by indicating your agreement with the following statements.

The NCA3 products I used...	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neither Agree nor Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree	Not applicable
Describe climate change information that is easy to understand.					
Is a credible source of information about the impacts of climate change in the United States.
Increased my access to climate change information compared to other similar resources

VALUE OF THE NCA3 FOR YOUR WORK

11. For the next set of items, rate your agreement with the statements below about how the NCA3 has impacted your work.

I believe the NCA3…	1 Strongly Disagree	2	3	4	5 Strongly Agree	Not applicable
Is helping inform climate science, data, and/or research priorities in my organization.						
Has helped me better serve my stakeholders in climate change related matters.						
Provides appropriate types of information for decision makers in my organization.						
Provides useful regional information for decision makers in my organization.						
Could have been more tailored to meet the needs of decision makers.						
Could have been more tailored to meet the needs of my organization’s stakeholders.						
Has improved my organization’s use of science to inform decisions.						
Has improved my organization’s use of science for planning purposes.
Provides useful sectoral information for decision makers in my organization.						
Provides an accurate scientific basis for climate change-related decision making in my organization.						

12. Please continue to indicate your agreement on these statements how the NCA3 has impacted your work.

I believe the NCA3 report…	1 Strongly Disagree	2	3	4	5 Strongly Agree	Not applicable
Is enabling me to increase interactions with climate researchers.						
Has informed program development in my organization.						
Has advanced my organization’s policy making around climate change.

NCA3 IMPACTS ON YOUR CAREER

13. Next, rate your agreement with the statements about the value of the NCA3 in your work life.

The NCA3 report has…	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neither Agree nor Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree
Improved my ability to speak about climate change inside my organization.					
Improved my ability to speak about climate change outside of my organization.					
Helped raise awareness of climate change issues in my own organization.					
Helped raise awareness of climate change issues with colleagues outside of my organization.					
Helped raise awareness of climate change with the general public.					
Developed new skills relevant to my work on climate change.					
Expanded my professional network.					
Initiated new professional partnerships or institutional collaborations.					
Advanced my career.					
Improved my own understanding of climate science.					
Changed my views on climate change in one or more ways.					

[For those who said yes to question #2 about involvement in public engagement phase]

14. Indicate your agreement on the statements about your experience in the public engagement phase of the NCA3s development.

My participation in the public engagement phase of the NCA3..	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neither Agree nor Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree
Contributed greatly to my professional capacity.					
Strongly impacted my ability to develop partnerships.					

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT WITH CLIMATE CHANGE

15. For the following statements please think about how your use of the NCA3 impacts the public’s understanding of climate change. Please rate your agreement with the following statements.

My use of the NCA3 report…	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neither Agree nor Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree	Not applicable
Has the potential to increase awareness of the impacts of climate change.
Has the potential to increase awareness of the science of climate change.
Can increase the public’s engagement in actions to adapt to climate change.					
Can increase the public’s participation in actions to mitigate the effects of climate change.					

16. The first few questions ask about your professional background and where you work.

Which of the following best reflects your organizational affiliation? (check one)

• Federal Government

• State, local, or regional government

• Tribal

• University

• K-12

• Informal education

• Research Institution

• Non-profit organization

• Business - For Profit/Industry

• News Media

• Other: _________________

17. In which U.S. state or territory do you currently work? [Dropdown list of US states and territories, including the option “I am currently based outside of the US”]

18. Is there anything else you would like to tell us about your use of the NCA3 report?

Thank you for participating in this survey! We greatly appreciate your feedback.

Your input will help inform and improve future National Climate Assessments.

tel: (347) 766-3399 13 East 37th St., 7th FL, New York, NY 10016

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