Questionnaires and Focus Groups for the Evaluation of Public Perception of Waste Recycling - Essay Example

?Use of Questionnaires and Focus Groups for the Evaluation of Public Perception of Waste Recycling Questionnaires and focus groups are two of the most common research methods. Both of these methods fall in the category of qualitative research. As the researcher is going to evaluate the use of questionnaires and focus groups for the determining the public perception of waste recycling, qualitative research would be more productive as compared to quantitative form of research because qualitative research methods significantly relate to social and behavioral aspects of research. Qualitative research would help the researcher evaluate the public perception of waste recycling in a better way as compared to quantitative study. Another reason behind the appropriateness of qualitative study in understanding public perception is that qualitative study focuses more on getting detailed information about the subject. Questionnaires and focus groups are two of the best examples of a qualitative study in which researchers identify the thoughts and perceptions of different people. Let us discuss these techniques in order to understand the public perception of waste recycling. 1. Questionnaires As Brace (2008, p. 2) states, “questionnaires are written in many different ways, to be used in many different situations and with many different data-gathering media.” Questionnaire is a method of doing qualitative research, which has advantages over many types of research methods. The reason is that they do not take much time and can easily target groups. Moreover, researchers can use focus groups to target large populations in wide geographical areas. Questionnaire is one of the widely used methods of research because researchers can apply it in almost every field of study, such as, healthcare, education, organizational analysis, and system and process analyses. Along with these fields of study, questionnaires also produce good results while evaluating public perception about waste recycling. Waste recycling is a process in which different kinds of household and construction wastes are recycled in such a way that they become available for use in the development of different types of products. Although researchers can use both analytical and descriptive types of questionnaires for getting the facts about waste recycling, but descriptive survey can be more productive for them as compared to the analytic one because it provides them with the real perceptions of people about a given scenario. Therefore, researchers can use descriptive questionnaires to identify the perceptions of different people regarding waste recycling. Moreover, the researcher should use numerical, as well as opinion questions in the questionnaire regarding waste recycling. Linda Goldenhar and Cathleen Connell did a research named ‘Effects of Educational and Feedback Interventions on Recycling Knowledge, Attitudes, Beliefs, and Behaviors’ in 1992 in which they studied public perception using feedback groups, education groups, and control groups. The researchers used questionnaires for this purpose. The results revealed that the feedback groups had higher levels of recycling behavior as compared to the control or education groups. In another research, ‘Evaluating the Effectiveness of Deliberative Processes: Waste Management Case-studies’ by Judith Petts, the researcher made use of case studies and questionnaires to gather information about effectiveness of waste recycling processes. The research revealed that people participate actively in waste management processes and have a good perception about recycling. 1.1. Advantages of Questionnaires Questionnaires prove to be very useful in conducting qualitative research. Some of the main advantages of using questionnaires in evaluating public perception of waste recycling include cost effectiveness, ease of conduct, answering as no details are required, and no requirement of verbal communication skills. Researchers believe that questionnaires return reliable data from the target population. Questionnaires have a proper structure having an opening, middle section having questions, and a closing section. Respondents do not feel any kind of bias or prejudice while answering the questions included in the questionnaires. 1.2. Disadvantages of Questionnaires Along with many advantages, there also exist some disadvantages of using questionnaires in research. One of the major disadvantages is that some respondents do not understand the standardized questions included in the questionnaire due to which they are unable to give proper answers. In some cases, respondents do not answer the questions by themselves and ask others to complete the questionnaires. Some people try to complete the questionnaire in hurry without giving proper attention to the questions if the questionnaire is too long. 2. Focus Groups Focus group is another method of doing qualitative research. According to Krueger (1988, p. 18), focus groups are designed to obtain public perceptions on a defined area of interest in a permissive, creative, and accommodating environment. Focus groups are the groups of 10 or fewer individuals who gather to participate in discussion about any specific topic. The interviewer asks them a series of questions and they share their ideas about those questions. According to Kitzinger (1994, p. 103), focus groups’ participants are focused as they are involved in some kind of collective activity. The respondents have the choice to share whatever comes in their minds regarding the questions under discussion. For example, if a researcher wants to evaluate the perception of different people regarding waste recycling, he/she can use focus group method to know the perceptions, thoughts, and feelings of different people about the issue. Karen Refsgaard and Kristin Magnussen did a research named ‘Household behaviour and attitudes with respect to recycling food waste – experiences from focusgroups’ in 2009 in which they made use of focus groups to evaluate public perception about waste recycling. The research revealed that public perception depends on organizational and technical aspects, as well as on institutions. 2.1. Advantages of Focus Groups Focus groups also prove to be very useful in conducting qualitative research. Some of the main advantages of using focus groups in evaluating public perception of waste recycling include ease in measuring public reaction and perception, opportunity of listening to different viewpoints, getting detailed answers, and on-track conversation due to face-to-face conversation. Moreover, the researcher also gets the opportunity to interact with every participant personally, which makes him/her judge public perception in a proper manner. Focus group method also provides opportunity to the participants to share their feelings in their own words. 2.2. Disadvantages of Focus Groups Along with many advantages, there also exist some disadvantages of using focus group method in research. Biased discussion is one of the major disadvantages as sometimes a couple of participants dominate the discussion by trying to impose their viewpoints on others. When dealing with sensitive topics, focus group method does not usually prove to be effective. Moreover, people involved in discussions can disagree with each other, which may disturb whole environment of the discussion. For example, while researching public perception on waste recycling, people may disagree with each other making overall environment tense and unproductive. References Brace, I., 2008. Questionnaire Design: How to Plan, Structure and Write Survey Material for Effective Market Research. 2nd ed. Kogan Page Limited, Philadelphia. Kitzinger, J., 1994. The Methodology of Focus Groups: The Importance of Interaction Between Research Participants. Sociology of Health and Illness . Vol. 16, no.1, pp.103-121. Krueger, R., 1988. Focus Groups: A Practical Guide for Applied Research. Sage, London. Read More