Key findings & the data

Coded Data Spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BvlLVfu3Uvmbp9L0Up0kk_W9hU2U3oKBl6mKac1pGmg/edit?usp=sharing

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Key Findings:

1. Most participants have some concern for the climate crisis but aren’t panicked. It seems as though they know it is an issue that exists but since there is a lack of panic, the issue isn’t fully understood.
2. By weighing each self-reported survey responses, I noticed a lot of overestimating of awareness or knowledge levels. Some would report that their education of climate change level is 4/5 or 5/5 but would also report that they had zero awareness of global temperature increase.
3. Even survey participants who reported that they didn’t care about the climate crisis reported relatively high concern for various global issues including poverty, immigration, and human rights.
4. Based on analyzed documents, those in charge or in influential positions often express care outwardly but rarely produce action towards solving the climate crisis. There is quite a bit of gaslighting from people in power.
5. Many express that there are too many barriers or things that prevent them from taking action. Often these barriers are self-caused like “not having enough time” or more society-caused like “too much greed”.
6. The overall self-reported level of knowledge is fairly low, but not totally non-existant. Many participants reported that they get a lot of knowledge from media sources which is troubling since it can be misleading and not all-encompassing. There are many holes in the collective knowledge about the issue.
7. It was often expressed attempts to take individual action such as using a “bamboo toothbrush” or “recycling”. The word recycling came up pretty often in the survey, but it isn’t that effect as other ways of taking action. Recycling seems to be the only widely known method of action.
8. Many don’t know ways to take action or where to start or what to do with their level of concern. Many also blame the government, which is fair.
9. In the survey, most participants rated collective action or government-based action as very effective and more effective than individual action. This expresses a decent understanding of the need for policies and the need for people in power to make societal decisions.
10. In both the analyzed documents and the open-response from the survey, there was a lot of emotion expressed towards the issue. I think many don’t know what to do with their feelings of helplessness and many are frustrated that people in power still aren’t listening.