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Environmental decision-making: the power of options over value thinking
You will conduct a full online survey experiment for an environmental decision problem. The aim of the master thesis is to investigate how much knowing about the options at stake can influence our judgment on the trade-offs between the objectives we want to achieve.
You will conduct a full experiment, from its design to results reporting. This includes the interactive phase of data collection, as our experiments are usually done with students or real stakeholders.
At the Decision Analysis Cluster at Eawag, we research how to include the public into complex environmental decision-making, and its consequences. This requires (1) informing the public about a priori unfamiliar topics, and (2) developing attractive online surveys to collect their preferences. We need to understand what is important for the public, i.e. how they are willing to make trade-offs between objectives, say “decrease costs” and “increase water quality”.
Online surveys for such value-focused decision analysis are starting to appear. Good practices for such surveys still need to be defined. This is especially important, as results from other research fields suggest that humans are easily biased. Some information can anchor our judgement, and we would tend to prefer the “business as usual” option.
You will conduct a full experiment, from its design to results reporting. This includes the interactive phase of data collection, as our experiments are usually done with students or real stakeholders.
At the Decision Analysis Cluster at Eawag, we research how to include the public into complex environmental decision-making, and its consequences. This requires (1) informing the public about a priori unfamiliar topics, and (2) developing attractive online surveys to collect their preferences. We need to understand what is important for the public, i.e. how they are willing to make trade-offs between objectives, say “decrease costs” and “increase water quality”.
Online surveys for such value-focused decision analysis are starting to appear. Good practices for such surveys still need to be defined. This is especially important, as results from other research fields suggest that humans are easily biased. Some information can anchor our judgement, and we would tend to prefer the “business as usual” option.
The aim of the master thesis is to investigate how much knowing about the options at stake can influence our judgment on the trade-offs between the objectives we want to achieve. It will contribute to defining best practices for online surveys in the field.
If you are interested in decision-making processes, from the factual to the societal/ individual aspects, and would like to carry out a research project from planning to data analysis and reporting, please contact us. The Decision Analysis cluster at Eawag provides a stimulating and supporting working environment
The aim of the master thesis is to investigate how much knowing about the options at stake can influence our judgment on the trade-offs between the objectives we want to achieve. It will contribute to defining best practices for online surveys in the field. If you are interested in decision-making processes, from the factual to the societal/ individual aspects, and would like to carry out a research project from planning to data analysis and reporting, please contact us. The Decision Analysis cluster at Eawag provides a stimulating and supporting working environment
Your research belongs to the project of Dr. Alice Aubert on "Environmental Decision Analysis with Games - Edanaga": https://www.eawag.ch/en/department/ess/projects/edanaga/
You will be embedded in two research projects on decision science applied to urban water management at Eawag: https://www.eawag.ch/abteilung/ess/schwerpunkte/entscheidungsanalyse/
Your supervisors will be:
Dr. Alice Aubert: alice.aubert@eawag.ch
Dr. Judit Lienert: judit.lienert@eawag.ch
Your research belongs to the project of Dr. Alice Aubert on "Environmental Decision Analysis with Games - Edanaga": https://www.eawag.ch/en/department/ess/projects/edanaga/ You will be embedded in two research projects on decision science applied to urban water management at Eawag: https://www.eawag.ch/abteilung/ess/schwerpunkte/entscheidungsanalyse/
Your supervisors will be: Dr. Alice Aubert: alice.aubert@eawag.ch Dr. Judit Lienert: judit.lienert@eawag.ch