Wildlife stakeholders’ attitude toward surveys

Understanding aspects of the survey climate that contribute to nonresponse is an essential component of stakeholder opinion research. Participants’ general attitude towards surveys has only been recently considered as a factor contributing to nonresponse. This study presents exploratory results of data gathered using recently developed survey attitude scale among commonly sampled wildlife stakeholders: deer and elk hunters. Findings suggest the stakeholders hold a positive attitude toward surveys, i.e., they value surveys and do not consider them burdensome. Assessment of the psychometric adequacy of the survey attitude scale confirmed acceptable metrics, results which align with previous psychometric assessments. Results provide evidence that the survey attitude scale can serve as a useful and accurate tool that may contribute to our understanding of the survey climate and nonresponse therein.