Assessment of an Interpretive Program for U.S. Coast Guard Personnel

Abstract: The goal of this research was to measure the effect of a print-based interpretive program on acceptance by U.S. Coast Guard personnel of an endangered-species protection program. We used a within-subjects design to measure changes in eight survey items measuring beliefs about endangered species. There were significant changes in three items. The initial attitude toward endangered species was a strong predictor of subsequent response in a "regression to the mean effect" in which the least change was found in subjects with the highest initial scores on attitude items. Our results suggest that the print-based program was effective at changing the most highly targeted attitudes, but had little effect on more general attitudes.