Participatory GIS in Collaborative Water Resource Decision Making: Results of a Field Experiment
Timothy L. Nyerges, Piotr Jankowski, Kevin Ramsey, and David Tuthill
Paper presented at 2nd
Annual Public Participation GIS Conference, July 20-22, 2003, at
ABSTRACT
Case studies involving the use of participatory GIS (PGIS) have a tendency to
focus on the outcomes of PGIS use and rarely report on the details of the
process of use. Without such insights, our ability to improve the designs and
subsequent implementations of PGIS are severely hindered. This paper reports on
the results of an empirical study into the use of a PGIS called WaterGroup
developed to support collaborative, conjunctive water resource administration
decision making. The goal of our study was to evaluate the design of a PGIS in
terms of how it impacts the collaborative decision process and collaborative
decision outcomes. To compile data we used a social-behavioral science technique
called "interaction coding." Coded data were examined using
exploratory sequential data analysis techniques. We used three techniques to
perform non-parametric, inferential sequential analysis. Each analysis makes use
of "interaction event codes" developed as part of the three streams of
the interaction coding systems redeveloped as part of the project. Lag
sequential analysis can tell us what interaction events (i.e, codes) preceded
and followed any particular interaction event. Cycles can tell us how many
interaction events get repeated in a cyclic manner. Transitions can tell us what
interaction events seem to follow what other interaction events. This being a
field experiment, the numbers of codes are not large, therefore parametric
analysis is not appropriate as it was in our past study. We discuss the findings
of this analysis as well as the implications of these findings for PGIS design.
This presentation will be of interest to researchers who conduct empirical
studies of PGIS use as well as PGIS designers and technicians who wish to gain a
deeper insight into the ways in which PGIS technologies are used in realistic
settings.
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