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Priority Ratings For Various Research Topics

At the end of the Workshop Discussion the symposium delegates were asked to complete a questionnaire that sought opinion on the relative priorities of a range of research topics. 35 delegates submitted returns.

Respondents used a score from 1 (high) to 5 (low) for ranking the priority of each topic. The mean priority score for each topic is given in the list below together with the number of returns for that topic (which varied since some delegates did not rank every topic). The topics are arranged in decreasing order of mean priority score.

(highest priority)	Research topic	Mean priority score (from 1 (high)) to 5 (low))	No. of Returns
1	Population assessment techniques	1.52	31
2	Evaluating efficiency of control	1.76	29
3	Control techniques	1.86	29
4	Diseases, parasites & epidemiology	1.87	30
5	Impact of control on non-target species/environment	2.00	29
6	More coordination of 'pure' and 'applied' research	2.03	30
7	More 'applied' research	2.12	26
8	Rationalisation & restructuring of present wildlife research	2.27	26
9	Basic physiology/pharmacology	2.28	28
10	Reproduction and development	2.28	28
11	Behaviour	2.42	31
12	Evaluating importance as pests	2.60	30
13	More 'pure' research	3.08	25
(lowest priority)

31 of the respondents listed their personal field of interest; 18 fell broadly under the category of 'basic research' and 13 under the category 'applied research and management':

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Basic research		Applied research & Management
Basic & experimental research	2	Diseases & health	4
Behaviour	2	Management of captive animals	1
Ecology	5	Pest Control	7
Reproduction	3	Wildlife Surveys	1
Immunology	3
Neurophysiology	1
Histochemistry	1
Chemo taxonomy	1
Total	18	Total	13