Chapter 3

RESEARCH METHODS

This chapter presents the research design, research environment,

research instruments and statistical methods used, and the data gathering

procedure of the study.

Research Design

This study is a descriptive-correlational research design, since the

researcher only intends to describe the relationships and the interaction among

the variables presented and did not state any causal relationships between the

variables. The researcher also describes the response difference between

adolescents and adults across variables. Furthermore, the researchers have

described the respondents most common practices regarding solid waste

management.

Research Environment

This study will be conducted at Rebe, Lala, Lanao del Norte. Rebe is

situated at approximately 7.9175, 123.7978, in the island of Mindanao.

Elevation at these coordinates is estimated at 20.7 meters or 67.9 feet above

mean sea level. Its current population is . Rebe a barangay in the

municipality of Lala in the province of Lanao del Norte. According to the 2015

census, it has a population of 67,727 people. The town is famous for its

specialized crab dishes and its Alimango festival, dedicated to the town’s

produce.
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Subjects

The respondents of this study are adolescents and adults of Rebe, Lala,

Lanao del Norte, coming from different gender orientation and are residents of

the said area. The researcher have put specific age range to identify the

adolescents and adult among the subject pool population. In cases where

respondents have difficulty understanding the questions given in English or in

Visaya verbally, the researcher would sit with them and explaining what the

question is all about by giving some examples to help them understand the

question and generate ideas on how to answer the question. Under the

probability of the study, the researcher have used random sampling in

gathering data. Table 1.0 (below) presents the target number of the

respondents for this study.

Table 1.0 Target Number of Respondents

Target Number of Respondents

Adolescents (Male/Female) 50

Adults (Male/Female) 50
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PHILIPPINE MAP

MINDANAO MAP

Rebe, Lala,
LDN

Figure B. The Locale of the Study

Research Instruments and their Validity

In this study, three questionnaires will be used to gather the needed

data. The questionnaires used in this study are research-made questionnaires.

The researcher used three existing scales based on the variables of the study.

Prior to the conducting of the study, the research instruments are translated to

the respondents in tagalog, enabling the respondents of the study to have more

comprehension about the questionnaires.

1. HOUSEHOLD QUESTIONNAIRE

Household Questionnaire is a 41-item assessment version of Asiri D.

Vitharana’s. The questionnaire entails the importance of solid waste

management for sound environmental development and was first used to

address the escalating waste problem in Sri Lanka. The questionnaire is

consist of both checklist and essay type questions. This instrument has been

widely use to assess the condition of solid waste management in an area. A

self-completion questionnaire, this questionnaire gives the researcher both

quantitative and qualitative data for the study.

2. ATTITUDE TOWARDS RECYCLING SCALE

The Attitude Towards Recycling Scale is a 20-item Likert type scale. The

scales reliability and validity yielded a corrected (Spearman-Brown) split-half

correlation coefficient of .93. This indicated that the ATR Scale had a

satisfactory internal homogeneity and moderate construct validity coefficients,

findings that support the use of this scale in environmental research aimed at

understanding attitudes toward recycling. The ATR Scale was significantly

correlated with scales measuring other environmental issues, supporting the

notion of a coherent basis for environmental attitudes.(Larsen, 2014)

3. NEW ECOLOGICAL PARADIGM (NEP)

New Ecological Paradigm sometimes referred to as the revised NEP, is

a 15-item survey-based metric devised by the US environmental sociologist

Riley Dunlap and colleagues. It is designed to measure the environmental

concern of groups of people using a survey instrument constructed of fifteen

statements. Agreement of the eight odd-numbered items, are meant to reflect

endorsement of the new paradigm or the respondents view of the world, while

agreement with the other seven even-numbered items represents

endorsement of the dominant social paradigm (DSP).

Data Gathering Procedures

Prior to the data gathering procedure, the researcher went to the local

government of Rebe, Lala to inform the barangay about the study.

Respondents will then be briefed about the study and will ask permission from

them to answer the questionnaires, upon the start of data gathering. The

researcher makes sure that the participation of the respondents in the study is

voluntary. The data gathering for this study will be conducted during weekends

to avoid conflict with the school hours for our adolescent respondents. The

researcher will also visit houses to gather data for the adult respondents of the

study.
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2. We provide
valid
1. We decide
START questionnaires
the study’s
that will aide in
target subject.
the conduction
of the study.

4. We study
and prepare 3. We prepare
the scoring letters for
plan for the approval.
questionnaires.

6. We
administer the
5. We validate
translated
the
questionnaires
questionnaires.
to the
respondents.

8. We analyze,
evaluate, and 7. We retrieve
interpret the the output.
results.

9. We present
study results to
Local
END
Government
Unit for
appropriate
action.

Figure C. Flowchart in the conduct of study and gathering of data

Statistical Treatment

To have accurate interpretation of the gathered data, the following

statistical tools are to be utilized:

1. Frequencies and/or Percentages

Frequencies and Percentage is used to determine the distribution of

responses of the respondents on the demographic profile of the respondents

according to the respondent’s age, sex, educational attainment, and

employment status, as well as answers from survey questionnaire from

Household Questionnaire.

2. Weighted Mean ( )

The sample from a group of observation is an estimate of the population

mean µ. Given a sample size of n, where we consider n, as independent

random variable X₁X₂….Xn, each corresponding to one randomly selected

observation. Each of these variables has the distribution of the population, with

mean µ and deviation σ. The sample is defined below.

This statistical method is used to get the average score or response in

the test for the following variables in the study and its domain. Given with the

questionnaire to be answered by the respondents, using the Household

Questionnaire, ATR Scale and NEP, raw score shall be obtained to get the

average response of the respondents in the test.

3. Spearman’s Correlation

The Spearman’s correlation coefficient is defined as the Pearson

correlation coefficient between the ranked variables. For a sample size of n,

the n raw scores Xi,Yi, are converted to ranks xi,yi, and ρ is computed from the

formula below:

Spearman’s correlation is used to see the significant relationship

between the variables Level of education on waste management, attitude

towards recycling, and solid waste management.