Includes bibliographical references (pages 48-52).
Summary
The RESTORE (Rethinking Ecological and Social Theories of Restoration Ecology) project is an interdisciplinary, multi-institutional research endeavor funded by the National Science Foundation's Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems program. The goal of the project is to understand the links between organizational type, decision making processes, and biodiversity outcomes in the context of ecological restoration of oak woodlands in the Chicago metropolitan area. This paper describes the procedures used to design, implement, and analyze the social data gathered for the project. Here we provide the useful details about methods that rarely fit in journal articles. We also provide appendices of all research tools. The size and interdisciplinary nature of the project make such documentation necessary. We hope this report can also serve as a guide for future large-scale interdisciplinary projects.