Chesapeake Quarterly Volume 2, Number 3: A Life Among Watermen (Graphs of survey results)

2003

Volume 2, Number 3

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Following Those Who Follow the Water

Key:
SD=Strongly Disagree
D=Disagree
SWD=Somewhat Disagree
SWA=Somewhat Agree
A=Agree
SA=Strongly Agree

Seeking Basic Beliefs: Surveying Watermen and Environmental Professionals

Teasing out basic beliefs, Paolisso and his team posed along list of questions to watermen and environmental professionals (researchers, technicians, natural resource experts). On some issues the two groups largely agreed - including the importance of watermen's experience for assembling "scientific" knowledge about the environment. The two groups strongly disagreed, however, over very fundamental statements, such as, "God and Nature are best managers of natural resources." Graphs redrawn from Michael Paolisso 2003.

Periods of reduced harvests (crops, fish, crabs and oysters) are due primarily to natural cycles.

reduced harvests - watermen: SD=3, D=5, SWD=1, SWA=20, A=44, SA=26; professionals: SD=12, D=36, SWD=14, SWA=9, A=2, SA=1

Unpredictability is nature's own way of ensuring that natural resources are not overharvested.

unpredictability of nature - watermen: SD=1, D=5, SWD=8, SWA=15, A=50, SA=20; professionals: SD=16, D=26, SWD=20, SWA=10, A=1, SA=0

The knowledge of people whose livelihood directly depends on working the land and water is essential to scientific knowledge of the environment.

knowledge - watermen: SD=0, D=3, SWD=1, SWA=9, A=42, SA=6; professionals: SD=0, D=1, SWD=4, SWA=21, A=32, SA=16

God and Nature are the best managers of natural resources.

God and Nature - watermen: SD=0, D=3, SWD=1, SWA=10, A=35, SA=49; professionals: SD=18, D=26, SWD=12, SWA=11, A=2, SA=4

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