Educational Needs and Perceptions - PowerPoint Presentation

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Educational Needs and Perceptions of Individuals Who Raise Backyard Poultry in Indiana

A Master’s ProjectErika Brown

Graduate Advisory Committee:

Marianne Ash, Indiana Board of Animal Health

Paul Brennan, Indiana State Poultry Association

Linda

Chezem

, Youth Development and Agricultural Education

Michael Kopp, Indiana Board of Animal Health

Mark Tucker, Youth Development and Agricultural Education, ChairSlide2

Commercial PoultryProminent commercial poultry industry in Indiana1st in the US for Commercial Duck Production2nd in the US for Chicken Egg Hatching3rd in the US for Egg Layers6th in the US for Turkey’s raisedContributes millions of dollars annually to the state’s economy

Provides food to individuals throughout the countrySlide3

Backyard PoultryOwning backyard poultry flocks are a lifestyle choice preferred by an increasing number of individuals. Motivations for raising backyard poultry are varied and mostly unstudiedObjection to commercially produced poultry? Slide4

Backyard PoultryBackyard poultry can be enjoyed by the flock ownerPose possible challenges for disease controlTypical backyard flock production = increased exposure to disease carrying wild birds and predatorsPossible disease transmission to neighboring flocksPossible public health hazardEducated flock owners neededBiosecuritySlide5

Need for StudyIndiana State Poultry Association (ISPA) distributes poultry information throughout the state111,954 pieces of biosecurity information in 2011291, 231 total pieces of information in 2011No follow-up research on information distributionAllow the ISPA to focus efforts where most effectiveSlide6

This StudyMail survey research to backyard flock owners in IndianaParticipants known by the ISPA to have owned poultryPoultry related information preferencesPerceptions of commercial poultry operationsSlide7

ObjectivesDetermine individuals' motivations for maintaining a backyard poultry flock.Determine whether individuals still maintain a backyard poultry flock. Determine individuals' preferred channels and sources of poultry health and production information.Identify poultry topics about which individuals would like to receive additional information. Assess individuals' perceptions of large-scale poultry production Slide8

Previous ResearchNational Health Monitoring System (NAHMS) research in 1999 and 2004Highlighted a need for greater awareness of biosecurity amongst backyard flock owners2011 NAHMS study addressed owners of chicken flocks in four urban areasGeneral awareness of biosecurity practicesMany could benefit from biosecurity education2008 ISPA ResearchEffectiveness of biosecurity presentationsBiosecurity curriculum effective when distributed by presentationSlide9

Theoretical FrameworkBased upon James Grunig’s Situational Theory of Publics Theory“Market Segmentation” function by separating into “publics”(Non Public)Latent PublicAware PublicActivist PublicPerceived relevancy determines involvementAllow for more telling interpretation of dataTargeted educational effortsSlide10

MethodsA structured questionnaire was developed by the researcher Mailed to 487 individuals who were previous participants in a program offered by the ISPAReturned questionnaires were separated from the envelopes to preserve anonymityIncentives of a drawing and small giftSlide11

PopulationSlide12

InstrumentationQuestions related to poultry ownership, information sources, and commercial industry perceptions Field tested with those known to have backyard poultry experienceCronbach’s coefficient alpha used to measure internal consistency of three measurement scalesDesired information before raising poultry 0.78Perceived trust 0.60Perception of commercial poultry 0.80Slide13

Data CollectionQuestionnaire, cover letter, and postage-paid, addressed return envelope mailedPopulation: 487 householdsAnonymous via coding numberIncentive of drawing and small giftOne month to return questionnaire Due to time and budget restraints, only one mailingTelephone follow-up Useable response rate of 33.2%Slide14

Data AnalysisUsable data entered into SPSS statistical softwareCalculated descriptive statisticsDiscriminant analysis used to develop predictive model for ISPA as an important source of poultry information Stepwise regression used to develop predictive model of perceptions regarding commercial poultry productionSlide15

Results157 useable responsesAllen county returned the most questionnairesN =157Slide16

ResultsN =157Slide17

DemographicsAbout two-thirds (67.5%) femaleMean Age: 48About two-thirds (67%) 2011 gross household income < $75,000Median of 4 individuals living in the householdAverage education 15 years (12 years = high school diploma)About half (51.2%) reported living on a farm39.9% reported living in a rural, non-farm locationN =157Slide18

Reasons for Raising PoultryEnjoyment highest with 96.2% agree or strongly agree. 86% agreed or strongly agreed that teaching children about animals and responsibility was a reason for owning poultry. Slide19

Poultry Ownership95.5% currently own poultry94.4% would recommend poultry ownership to others80.8% have 50 or fewer birds59% have 10 or fewer years of poultry experience52% spend less than $499 a year on poultry and supplies75.5% adults are primary poultry caretakers 52.9% spend 6 or fewer hours caring for birds/weekMedian number of hours was 6Slide20

Sources of InformationFriends and Neighbors most importantFollowed by Indiana State Poultry AssociationSlide21

Poultry TopicsWish known more about when starting poultry flockSlide22

Poultry TopicsPoultry topics interested in receiving information about nowSlide23

Information DeliverySlide24

Biosecurity Information70.1% indicated that they had received information about practices to prevent diseases or biosecurityMost from ISPA, 4-H, or other ISPA event74.8% of those who received the information found it helpful21.4% were not sure if it has been helpfulMost Helpful:Preventing contamination of flock Preventing spread of disease Importance of not transferring birds and equipmentSlide25

Biosecurity InformationSlide26

TrustSlide27

Commercial PoultryRelatively unsure of quality and safety of commercially produced poultry and poultry available at groceryTended to be negative or undecided toward other aspects as wellSlide28

Discriminant AnalysisMethod to find combination of features that characterizes individuals who rank the ISPA as an important source of poultry informationHypothesized individuals ranking ISPA high would: More likely to indicate themselves as the primary caretaker of birdsMore likely to believe that raising poultry saves them moneyMore likely to spend more money on poultry and suppliesHave a higher average number of birdsHave more years experience raising poultryHigher gross household incomeBe olderBe more likely to be maleSlide29

Discriminant AnalysisOnly years of formal education entered into the predictive modelIn an unexpected directionSlide30

Stepwise Multiple RegressionUsed to measure the influence of attitudinal and demographic variables on perceptions of commercial poultry production. Composite dependent variable of answers to questions regarding commercial poultry productionRegressed against independent variables: Age Years of formal education Gross household income in 2011 Perceived trust of poultry information

sourcesSlide31

Stepwise Multiple RegressionLinear Regression Model: Gender and perceived trust were the only two hypothesized variables that had a statistically significant effect on respondents’ perceptions of commercial poultry productionSlide32

Commercial Poultry PerceptionsThose who had a more positive perception of commercial poultry production tended to be males who expressed greater levels of trust in various sources of poultry information. As evidenced by the R-square value, the two variables only explained about 8% of the total variance in perceptions of commercial poultry production---------------------Both models have limited utility due to the low number of variables entering the model and because the relatively low measures of association. Slide33

Conclusions & ImplicationsIndividuals find a great deal of enjoyment raising backyard poultry flocks95% of respondents have maintained their flockPostal mailings preferred method of information distributionAdditional information regarding poultry health and diseaseMixed perceptions regarding commercial poultry productionMany negative or undecided – environmental, animal welfareSlide34

Conclusions & ImplicationsObviously, there are other variables at work that were perhaps not collected in this questionnaireSituational Theory of Publics frameworkOffered promiseTime restrains prevented development of useful instrumentationOffers useful way to consider segments of the populationNeeds and motivations for attending to or ignoring messagesAdditional research to explore applications in agriculture & poultrySlide35

Conclusions & ImplicationsMail survey method provided effective means of acquiring dataLarge populationLimited research resourcesResults will be useful to the ISPA and other who provide information to backyard poultry ownersFurther research should perhaps include site visits and interviews to deepen understanding of perceptions and information needsExploratory study and useful first stepSlide36

Questions?