Week 9: Data Analysis
Hello Everyone! This week we will be talking about the data analysis portion of this research.
According to the analysis of the data, there were 4 factors that played an impact on the student’s willingness to properly recycle their e-waste:
- Knowledge of e-waste: Do they know what e-waste is?
According to the contingency tests conducted, this factor played an impact on one’s willingness to participate with a p-value of 0.031. In total, about 77% (81 respondents) of the survey respondents knew what e-waste was prior to taking the survey, and the remaining 23% (24 respondents) did not. As Graph 1 shows, ~78% of the students who knew of e-waste prior to taking the survey indicated interest in participating in e-waste in future. Additionally, only ~54% of the students who did not know about e-waste previously indicated interest in participating in e-waste recycling in the future. This shows how having knowledge about e-waste is an important and significant factor in determining one’s willingness to participate in e-waste management.
- Knowledge of e-waste recycling: Did they know e-waste could be recycled?
According to the contingency tests conducted on this factor and their interest to participate in e-waste management, a p-value of 0.043 was calculated. Overall, about 67% (70 respondents) of the survey respondents knew that e-waste could be recycled, and ~33% did not know e-waste could be recycled. As Graph 2 shows, out of the people that knew e-waste could be recycled, around 80% showed interest in participating in e-waste management in the future; out of the people that did not know e-waste could be recycled, only 60% showed interest in participating in e-waste management in the future. This shows the more knowledge a person has about e-waste recycling, the more they are likely to recycle; hence recycling knowledge is an important and significant factor in determining one’s willingness to participate in e-waste management.
- Environmental Impact: Did they know about the impact e-waste has on the environment?
According to the contingency tests conducted, this factor played an impact on one’s willingness to participate with a p-value of 0.031. In total, about 40% (81 respondents) of the survey respondents claimed that they were very familiar with the environmental impact on e-waste, about 41% of the survey respondents claimed that they were somewhat familiar with the environmental impact of e-waste and 19% were not at all familiar with the environmental impact of e-waste. As Graph 3 shows, ~83% of the students that were very familiar, ~75% of the students that were somewhat familiar, and ~55% of the students that were not at all familiar with the environmental impact on e-waste indicated interest in participating in e-waste in future. This shows the more knowledge a person has about the environmental impact of e-waste, the more they are likely to recycle; hence environmental concern is an important and significant factor in determining one’s willingness to participate in e-waste management.
- Knowledge of Toxins that cause environmental harm: Are they familiar with the specific toxic/hazardous materials in e-waste?
According to the contingency tests conducted on this factor and their interest to participate in e-waste management, a p-value of 0.031 was calculated. In total, about 32% (81 respondents) of the survey respondents claimed that they were very familiar with the toxins causing the environmental impact on e-waste, about 45% of the survey respondents claimed that they were somewhat familiar with the toxins causing the environmental impact of e-waste and 23% were not at all familiar with the toxins causing the environmental impact of e-waste. As Graph 4 shows, ~74% of the students that were very familiar, ~81% of the students that were somewhat familiar, and ~54% of the students that were not at all familiar with the environmental impact on e-waste indicated interest in participating in e-waste in future. Although the percentage of students that were somewhat familiar (81%) is larger than the percentage of students that were very familiar (74%), the results still indicate that the more the more knowledge a person has of the the toxins/hazardous materials that cause environmental harm, the more likely they are likely to participate in e-waste management because the percentage difference was caused by a mere 2 people and hence is not that significant.