Feral Swine Testing

Feral Swine Interview Guide

November 2020

Project Leads: Kathy Ott and Kenny Herrell

Interviewer’s Name
POID
PID
State
Date of Interview
List frame type of farm
List frame type of livestock and number of livestock
Observed Gender of Respondent
Observed Age of Respondent (18-29, 30-44, 45-59, 60+)
How long did it take to fill out the questionnaire?
Other Information 1
Other Information 2

Before we begin, I want to tell you a little more about the project and what we will be doing today. We are in the process of testing a questionnaire that will be sent to farmers to ask about their experiences with wild pigs, or “feral swine.” We test these questions with farmers like you because we want to make sure a survey is easy for people, and that the questions are understandable, before we send the survey to everyone.

Today, I will ask you to review this survey. Because we are testing a questionnaire that will go out later this year, some of the questions may ask for information you don’t know yet. We can talk about that as we go through the questionnaire. After you have completed each section, we will go back over the questions you answered. I’m going to ask you some follow-up questions on why you answered the way you did, how you interpreted certain questions and discuss any questions and/or terms that you found confusing or did not understand. This will help us make sure that everyone who receives this form understands the questions. Again, all your answers and everything we discuss today will be kept completely confidential. If you have any difficulty answering a question, let me know, we will discuss it after you have completed the form. Do you have any questions before we start?

General emergent probes for any/all questions:

How did you arrive at an answer for this question?

In your own words, what does this question/this term mean to you?

Were there any terms used in this section that you did not understand?

Would you need to use your records to answer this question?

Would you need to talk to someone else on this operation to answer this question/section?

Were there any questions you cannot answer?

Section 1

Item 4

How would you answer this question?

How did you arrive at that answer?

Interviewer: Probe to understand how they know there are wild pigs in the county, or how they know that there are not wild pigs in the county.

Item 5

How did you arrive at your answer to this question?

How confident are you in your answer? Why?

To your recollection, when did your county first have wild pigs?

Item 6

What does “being present on your operation” mean to you?

What do you do on your operation to detect whether wild pigs have been present?

I’d like to present you with some hypothetical situations, and ask you to tell me how you would answer these questions if they were true for your operation:

There have been no evidence of wild pigs on your operation.

Some animals have made damage on your property, but you aren’t certain what animal it was, and you’ve heard reports of wild pigs in your area.

You’ve seen wild pigs once on your operation, but they did not stay long and did not do any damage.

You’ve seen wild pigs on your operation and they did damage, but you can’t recall how long ago it was.

Item 7

What was your answer to this item?

How did you arrive at your answer to this question?

How confident are you in your answer? Why?

To your recollection, when did you first have wild pigs on your operation?

In this item and in Item 5, what do each of these response categories mean to you, starting with “substantially increased”?

Item 8

I’d like you to read this item aloud, starting at the top. After each line, I’d like you to tell me what each one means to you, in the context of these questions.

Feed to attract game?

Farming or livestock practices that may attract wild pigs?

Hunt wild pigs?

Other measures to control presence?

Transport and release?

Safe haven?

Item 9

What comes to mind when you see the phrase “private landowners”?

In your own words, what is the difference between questions 8 and 9?

Item 10

Where would you include grouse in these categories? How about partridge?

What would you include here in the “Other” category?

Section 2

Item 4

What does the phrase “native grassland pasture” mean to you?

What does the phrase “unimproved pasture” mean to you?

Do these two phrases mean the same thing to you?

Item 4b

How would you answer this question?

If they answered yes: What types of damage did you attribute to wild pigs? Is there a threshold to the amount of damage that you’d report?

Item 4c

How did you come up with this figure? Did you include all damage or just that attributed to wild pigs?

Item 5

What does the phrase “sown pasture” mean to you?

What does the phrase “improved pasture” mean to you?

Do these two phrases mean the same thing to you?

Item 6

What is this question asking you, in your own words?

What is your definition of “livestock stocking levels”?

Item 7

How are you coming up with your answer to this item?

Did you have any difficulty choosing a response here? If so, why?

Item 8

I’d like you to go through this item in full. When you’re done, I will ask you follow-up questions on some specific items.

Item 8a

First, tell me how you would answer this item.

Item 8b

What does this question mean to you?

What is your definition of “raised” in this question? <interviewer: Is there any confusion about what it means to “raise” livestock?>

Item 8e

Are there any other feed sources you can think of besides those listed?

Item 8f

How would you answer this question? Do you have any issues answering this?

Item 8i

In this item, and the previous two, we ask about “evidence” regarding wild pigs. What types of things are you considering when you think about “evidence”?

Item 8k

How did you answer this series of questions (about diseases)? Are you familiar with all of these diseases? How did you calculate the market value?

Item 8l

How are you answering this item?

If you answered “Yes,” what are you thinking about here?

In Item 8.l.ii, and the other items that ask you about market value, how are you coming up with these figures? Would you refer to records, or memory, or an estimate?

Section 3

Item 1

I’d like you to review this set of questions as well. For any time you answer damage, I’d like you to tell me what type of damage you’re talking about. What did you include in the repair columns? How do you distinguish between mild, moderate, and severe damage?

Section 4

Item 1

What do you think are we asking you to do in this item?

Which of these apply to you?

For the ones that apply to you, what specific organizations, groups, or people are you including?

Interviewer: Take note if they are including more than two entities total, since Item 2 only allows two entries.

What activities did each of these <entities> perform?

How are you coming up with the number about how many days someone helped you?

How did you answer the question about the number of people? How would you answer this, if most days there was only one person, but occasionally there were 2 or 3 people?

Item 3

How did you arrive at your answer to this question?

For all applicable items, what costs are you including?

Did you include the value of your time? If yes: How did you come up with that answer?

What was your criteria for determining how effective the particular method was?

In your words, how does Line C differ from Line A?

In your words, what is “aerial hunting” in Line D?

What would you include in “repellents for wild pigs” in Line F?

Items 5 and 6

<if no> Do you have fencing on your operation for purposes other than reducing damage by wild pigs?

Are you consulting with records to answer these questions? If so, what records?

In Line C, what does the phrase “expected useful life” mean to you?

In your opinion, how is item 5 different from item 6?

Item 9

In your own words, what are we asking you in this question?

<interviewer: are they including just diseases spread by livestock>?

What was your answer to this question? If “yes:” Which of these measures did you take?

In 9a, how did you come up with the dollar amount that you would report here?

In 9b, what does the term “disease findings” mean to you in this question?

Item 10

How would you answer this question?

Are you thinking of anything specific when you answer this question? IF NEEDED: are there any types of bait that are used in other animals that you would use here?

Section 5

<interviewer: any issues?

Section 6

Item 5

IF RESPONDENT IS THE OWNER: How would you answer this question?

All/any Items

<interviewer: any issues?