Research In Progress | Completed Projects | Upcoming Projects | Legacy Projects | Prioritization
These are the main projects currently underway at Faunalytics.
Testing Approaches to Reducing Chicken and Fish Suffering
In our studies of U.S. and international beliefs about fishes and chickens, we examined the associations between beliefs about these small-bodied animals on the one hand, and behaviors that would reduce their suffering on the other: signing a petition to support welfare improvements and taking a reduction pledge. These studies provide evidence of how common different beliefs are and how strongly they are related to pro-animal behavior, which provides a suggestion of which beliefs may be ripe for intervention. In this study, we are testing several possible interventions to try and identify the most successful avenues for advocates to reduce chicken and fish suffering.
The pre-registration for this study will be published on Faunalytics’ Open Science Framework page.
This project is made possible thanks to generous funding from an anonymous donor.
Going Vegan Or Vegetarian: A Longitudinal Study of Veg*n Retention
In this six-month longitudinal study, we are looking at how new veg*ns transition to and maintain their new diets in the crucial early months. In partnership with Carleton University (Ottawa, ON, Canada) and with generous funding from VegFund and the Animal Advocacy Research Fund, we were able to conduct this large-scale study, which will yield enough data for at least three reports. The first report, which focused on success rates and transition methods, and the second report, which examine motivations and influences, can be found on the Completed Projects page. The third report will follow in the coming months and will examine new veg*ns’ supports, barriers, and strategies to overcome those barriers. With this data, Faunalytics will be able to provide advocates with information about which habits, tools, and resources help people stick with veg*nism over time.
This study is pre-registered on the Open Science Framework.
Farmed Animal Protection In China: Phase Two
The first phase of this project, comprising interviews with members of the animal protection community in China, can be found on the Completed Projects page. This phase follows on that research by interviewing members of the Chinese public.
Although China’s per capita meat consumption is lower than most wealthier, Western countries, its size and growing industry means that it houses and slaughters more farmed animals than any other country in the world. Despite that, the number of people who are working to protect the lives and welfare of farmed animals is currently quite small compared to more established communities in some other countries. Both phases of this study are intended to provide data to support that community. Because of the scale of China’s agriculture industry, even small changes have the potential for an outsized effect.
The pre-registration for this study will be published on Faunalytics’ Open Science Framework page.
This project is made possible thanks to generous funding from the Culture & Animals Foundation, the Centre for Effective Altruism, and three anonymous donors.
Relative Effectiveness of Different Approaches to Advocacy
There are many different approaches to advocacy in the movement, and it is both important and difficult to test their relative impact on public attitudes and behavior. In this study, we will examine attitudes toward advocacy issues and pro-animal behaviors, then ask about which types of advocacy people have been previously exposed to (e.g., seeing graphic material with and without consent, receiving a leaflet, etc.). We will use regression to examine how current attitudes and behavior are predicted by a wide range of past experiences with advocacy, which will provide an estimate of each strategy’s unique impact over the long-term.
We will also include an experimental manipulation to measure participants’ current reactions to the same range of advocacy strategies, presented as hypothetical encounters. This will provide information about the strategies’ immediate impact as well. Therefore, this study will combine retrospective survey and experimental methods to provide initial evidence directly comparing advocacy strategies to one another in both the short- and long-term. Neither method is perfect, but together they compensate for one another’s limitations and allow for the first direct comparison of a wide range of advocacy techniques. This research will provide valuable information to guide independent advocates, new groups, and prospective funders about which types of advocacy to support.
This study is pre-registered on the Open Science Framework.
This project is made possible thanks to generous funding from the Greenbaum Foundation.
