Steel, Brent S.; Brunson, Mark; Smith, Courtland. 1993. An introduction to social assessment techniques for natural resource managers. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station; report prepared for the Consortium for the Social Values of Natural Resources. 28 p.
This is a guide to approaches and techniques used to assesscitizen preferences concerning natural resources. It proceedsstep by step through the social assessment process and includes avariety of perspectives concerning the measurement andinterpretation of social values. We begin with a briefintroduction to the philosophy behind citizen participation andthen proceed to actual approaches and techniques which can beutilized. Since each approach and technique has costs andbenefits associated with its use, we make every effort not onlyto provide information on how each should be used, but also toprovide some data-based observations on its limitations andstrengths.