This README.txt file was generated on 2022-05-06 by Sydney Rilum GENERAL INFORMATION 1. Title of Dataset: Perceptions of Seaweed Aquaculture in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties Submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Master of Environmental Science and Management at the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, University of California, Santa Barbara 2. Author Information A. Co-Investigator Contact Information Name: Sydney Rilum Institution: Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, University of California, Santa Barbara Address: 2400 Bren Hall, Santa Barbara, California 93106-5131 Email: sydneyrilum@ucsb.edu B. Co-investigator Contact Information Name: Janelle Gaun Institution: Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, University of California, Santa Barbara Address: 2400 Bren Hall, Santa Barbara, California 93106-5131 Email: jgaun@ucsb.edu C. Co-investigator Contact Information Name: Madeline McEwen Institution: Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, University of California, Santa Barbara Address: 2400 Bren Hall, Santa Barbara, California 93106-5131 Email: madelinemcewen@ucsb.edu D. Co-investigator Contact Information Name: Laurel Wee Institution: Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, University of California, Santa Barbara Address: 2400 Bren Hall, Santa Barbara, California 93106-5131 Email: laurelwee@ucsb.edu E. Advisors: Hunter S. Lenihan, PhD – Bren School, Professor Sarah E. Anderson, PhD – Bren School, Professor Kevin M. Johnson, PhD – California Sea Grant, Extension Specialist F. Client: Ocean Rainforest, Inc. 3. Date of data collection: Survey responses were collected from 2021-12-09 to 2022-01-09 4. Geographic location of data collection: Santa Barbara and Ventura counties 5. Information about funding sources that supported the collection of the data: Survey was funded by Sustainable Ocean Alliance's Ocean Leadership Microgrant Program SHARING/ACCESS INFORMATION 1. Licenses/restrictions placed on the data: NA 2. Links to publications that cite or use the data: https://bren.ucsb.edu/projects/perceptions-seaweed-aquaculture-santa-barbara-and-ventura-counties 3. Links to other publicly accessible locations of the data: https://github.com/sydneyrilum/KelpWanted-Survey-Data-Analysis 4. Links/relationships to ancillary data sets: NA 5. Was data derived from another source? no 6. Recommended citation for this dataset: Rilum, S., Gaun, J, Wee, L, and McEwen, M. 2022. Perceptions of Seaweed Aquaculture in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties. UCSB Bren School Master's Thesis. DATA & FILE OVERVIEW 1. File List: survey_data.csv: survey response dataset used for analyses survey_metadata.csv: column descriptions for survey_data.csv KelpWanted_Final_Report_and_Appendices.pdf: master's thesis, with appendices KelpWanted_Executive_Summary.pdf: executive summary of master's thesis 2. Relationship between files, if important: survey_metadata.csv explains column names in survey_data.csv 3. Additional related data collected that was not included in the current data package: Interview transcriptions are not included in the project’s publicly accessible data. As stated in the participant consent form, interviewee names and affiliations are required to remain anonymous. 4. Are there multiple versions of the dataset? yes, the original dataset was filtered for complete, quality responses from our target region and can be accessed via our team's GitHub repository (linked above). METHODOLOGICAL INFORMATION 1. Brief description of methods used for collection/generation of data: Survey Data & Analyses* An online survey was developed to understand public perceptions and support for expanding seaweed aquaculture in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. The survey questionnaire was created using Qualtrics’ web-based survey interface and consisted of 22 questions (all closed- ended except for one open-ended) and 11 demographic questions (see Appendix B2 for survey matrix). The survey took an average of eight minutes to complete. Human Subjects protocol required all survey questions be optional and thus we could not force a response to any question in the survey. An anonymous online consent form required the participant to select whether they accept or decline participation before beginning the survey. The statement included our survey’s purpose, confidentiality, and anonymity. Interview Data* Twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted with subject matter experts in five key stakeholder groups: government agencies, environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs), commercial and recreational fishers, aquaculturists, and the scientific community. Interviewers followed an interview guide created to guide questions and topics of discussion while giving researchers the flexibility to explore topics introduced by the interviewee and ask for clarification, explanation, or examples (see Appendix C1 for interview guide). Interviews were conducted over Zoom, a video teleconferencing software program. Each interview lasted 30 to 60 minutes and were attended by two to four researchers. Participants signed consent forms indicating their voluntary participation and willingness to be recorded (see Appendix C3 for consent form). At the beginning of each interview, researchers verbally confirmed the participants’ voluntary participation and consent to be recorded. *For complete methodology, refer to methods section in Final Report pdf document. 2. Methods for processing the data: Survey responses from the paid and self-distributed surveys were compiled into an Excel (.csv) spreadsheet and analyzed in R using RStudio version 4.1.2. Survey analyses were coded and created reproducibly in R using RStudio and stored on an open-source GitHub repository. All data files and R markdown documents (.Rmd) are publicly available on our team’s GitHub repository. Survey data and metadata files are also archived in the UCSB library. Interview audio and video recordings were stored in a secure cloud-based Box folder until transcribed. Interview transcriptions are not included in the project’s publicly accessible data. As stated in the participant consent form, interviewee names and affiliations are required to remain anonymous. 3. Instrument- or software-specific information needed to interpret the data: Survey data analysis was conducted in R using RStudio version 4.1.2. and stored in an open-source GitHub repository (https://github.com/sydneyrilum/KelpWanted-Survey-Data-Analysis). 4. Standards and calibration information, if appropriate: Survey and interview data collection were approved by the University of California, Human Subjects Committee. 5. Environmental/experimental conditions: NA 6. Describe any quality-assurance procedures performed on the data: Survey responses were filtered for “speeders” – respondents that took less than three minutes to complete the survey (less than half the average time to take survey). 7. People involved with sample collection, processing, analysis and/or submission: Sydney Rilum Janelle Gaun, Laurel Wee, and Madeline McEWwn DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: survey_data.csv 1. Number of variables: 102 2. Number of cases/rows: 354 3. Variable List: refer to survey_metadata.csv for column (variable) descriptions 4. Missing data codes: NA indicates respondent did not answer question 5. Specialized formats or other abbreviations used: q# refers to question number in survey