View in Vital Signs
Progress Measures
Engagement in stewardship activities
Basics
Vibrant Human Quality of Life
Sound Stewardship
Indicator
Engagement in stewardship activities
Vital Sign Indicator
Percent (%)
/

No targets are currently set for this indicator.

Kelly Biedenweg
Kelly.Biedenweg@oregonstate.edu
Oregon State University
Contributing Partners
Last Updated
7/1/2021 4:31:32 PM
Map
psinfo_figure_Steward_2020.jpeg
2020 mean responses to Sound Stewardship index by county. Image created by Brian Katz. These and other human wellbeing data can be further explored at the link below.
Human Wellbeing Data Explorer: Puget Sound
Description
This indicator is a measure of the extent to which Puget Sound residents engage in environmental stewardship activities that they perceive as meaningful to themselves, their community, and the environment. Because of the importance of intrinsic motivation to sustaining behaviors and overall human wellbeing, it also provides a measure of the degree to which engagement in stewardship activities contributes to wellbeing.
Vital Sign Indicator Chart
Engagement in stewardship activities
By: Response
Respondents were asked about their frequency of engagement in three categories of stewardship behaviors and activities: behaviors that they believe effectively benefitted the environment, environmental behaviors that they believe are needed by the community, and environmental behaviors that were personally meaningful. Respondents ranked their engagement using a five-point scale ranging from 'Never' (1) to 'Frequently - Almost every day' (5).

The indicator measures stewardship actions that are intended to improve some aspect of environmental health, and that the individual perceives as meaningful to themselves and their community. Data from this indicator can be used to inform outreach strategies and to identify potential predictors of observed change in environmental health.

Key Vital Sign Indicator Results
  • The mean index response is 3.14, which equates to respondents overall participating in stewardship activities “occasionally (once a month)”.
  • People engaged in stewardship behaviors less frequently in 2020 compared to 2018, although the difference is minimal.  
  • The 2020 Latinx purposive sample showed that Latinx participate between "rarely" and "occasionally" in stewardship behaviors.
Methods
Monitoring Program

Oregon State University's Human Dimensions Lab

Data Source

Oregon State University Human Dimensions Lab

Vital Signs Survey Summary Report 2020

Data are collected every 2 years via paper survey to a random sample of Puget Sound households. The population chosen for this survey was a clustered random sample of Puget Sound residents, with an initial sample of 9,000. Due to undeliverable addresses, the total sample reached was less than 9,000. In 2020, the response rate was 25 percent for a total of 1,843 respondents. 

Also appended is a 2021 purposive sample of 180 Latinx respondents who were selected using a variety of techniques, including:

  • qualtrics panel of Latinx respondents,
  • recruitment ads placed in Spanish and English with regional Spanish radio and newspapers, and
  • social media recruitment through Puget Sound Latinx groups.

This one-time survey was conducted to approach Latinx respondents in diverse, potentially more culturally-appropriate ways, to determine if the Latinx respondents to our general public survey significantly differ from the overall Latinx population of Puget Sound (e.g., do Latinx respondents to our biennial random sample survey represent a biased group of Latinx?). To answer this question we compared the responses to the purposive sample to 1) all non-Latinx respondents in the general public survey and 2) only Latinx respondents to the general public survey.

Critical Definitions
Interpretation of Results

A multivariate linear regression model that tested for demographic predictors of stewardship behaviors explained only 6.5 percent of the variation in responses. The model suggests that people are more likely to participate in stewardship activities if they are female and liberal.

This is the second iteration of collecting these data. We do not anticipate significant differences to appear until several years of monitoring.

Vital Signs Survey Summary Report 2020

Vital Signs Latinx Survey Summary Report 2021

Human Wellbeing Vital Signs Interactive Web-interface

Datasets

The Puget Sound Partnership believes in the transparency and accessibility of the data used to address progress measures. These data are provided by contributing partners to the Partnership and are made publicly available through the Puget Sound Info site. These data are available on an "as is" basis and the Partnership is not responsible for any errors, omissions, or inaccuracies. Please acknowledge the monitoring program and data source when using these data and obtain permission from the Vital Sign Indicator Reporter to use these data in a publication.

2020 HWB Survey Data
Uploaded On
5/27/2021
File Type
Excel (XLSX)
Description
Results are presented for the subjective Human Wellbeing Vital Sign indicators. Data were collected via a survey to the general population of the Puget Sound Region in 2020. Please acknowledge the Oregon State University Human Dimensions Lab and Puget Sound Partnership when using these data.
Reporting Guidance
Reporting Instructions
Subcategories
Name
Response
Don't Know, Never, Rarely (1-4 times a year), Occasionally (once a month), Regularly (once a week)
[1 More Options]
Frequently (almost every day)