Using word clouds to present farmers’ perceptions of advisory services on pollution mitigation measures

Emilie Vrain, Andrew Lovett

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

12 Citations (Scopus)
36 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Advice delivery is one mechanism that can be used to encourage the uptake of water pollution mitigation measures amongst the farming community, but determining who is best placed to effectively provide advice and increase adoption creates a challenge for policy makers. Through in-depth interviews, this research investigates the perspectives of both farmers and farm advisers on the delivery of water pollution mitigation advice in three agriculturally contrasting areas of England. A novel approach using word clouds as a visual comparative tool for qualitative data is presented to demonstrate a transferable method for disseminating research findings to a wider audience outside of academia. Results from the interviews indicate differences across the regions, and that contrasts exist between farmers and advisers' perceptions. This suggests it is important to assess both perspectives when designing effective advice delivery mechanisms and for policy makers to consider who is most appropriate to effectively deliver farm advice.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1132-1149
Number of pages18
JournalJournal of Environmental Planning and Management
Volume63
Issue number6
Early online date29 Jul 2019
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 11 May 2020

Keywords

  • agriculture
  • farmer attitudes
  • Diffuse water pollution
  • farm advisers
  • word cloud
  • diffuse water pollution

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