This volume presents the findings of a small group of both social and natural scientists who tackled the 'so what' question. Led by Dartmouth sociologist, Elise Boulding, and Boulder climatologist, Stephen Schneider, the group examined how a changing climate might affect people and institutions and how these might respond. The outcome of their interdisciplinary appraisal is a blend of careful reviews of relevant social-science work, group interaction and discussion, and concrete suggestions for further research and analysis.

Survey research was for a long time thought of primarily as a sociological tool. It is relatively recently that this research method has been adopted by other social sciences and related professional disciplines. The amount and quality of its use, however, vary considerably from field to field. This volume describes the elementary logic of survey design and analysis and provides, for each discipline, an evaluation of how survey research has been used and conceivably may be used to deal with the central problems of each field.