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Module 3.1.2 Qualitative data
4 Besides the growing number of initiatives focused on quantitative measurement, there is also increasing

interest in keeping track of qualitative ecological and socio-economic attributes that help provide a

more holistic picture. Not everything can, or needs to be, quantitatively measured, so quantitative data
alone could miss critical elements. Looking only at quantitative data and nothing else could lead to
9-12 December, 2013 is a growing sense that environmental assessments could be strengthened by drawing on a wider range
someone believing that the problem is understood in great detail, which may not always be true. There

of information types and sources, and might be at their best when numerical, technical “hard” data are
combined with socially-derived information that more relate to the practical “real-world” dimension of

the environment.

Although socially-derived, experience-based information can be turned into quantitative, empirical data
and scientifically scrutinized, it is usually gathered using qualitative methods and sources. This can be

done, for example, through methods such as:

? field observation;
? interviews with people who live in and have direct experience with local environments; and

? narrative, descriptive, oral histories and interpretive sources on issues such as how much water
each household uses a day, how many bicycles or cars there are per household and who gets
to use them, how people cope with changing environmental conditions, as well as opinions on
environmental policy priorities, disaggregated by race, gender, age or ethnicity.

Qualitative information can complement numerical data and physical indicators by:

? broadening the scope of environmental inquiry to include people’s experiences, perspectives and
perceptions;
? making use of critical environmental information long before it shows up on the scientific or public
radar;

? integration of certain indigenous or other groups into formal environmental discussions and
decision making; and

? acknowledgement of the fact that human responses to environmental conditions are often based
on perception rather than externally-validated facts.

Working with qualitative information poses many challenges in terms of validation, verification,
reliability and comparability. For example, individual narratives or small-scale observational field notes
can produce highly idiosyncratic and unreliable information. Local and subjective knowledge may not
be comprehensive, reliable or correct. People’s perceptions and memories can be distorted, and

18 Monitoring, Data and Indicators