Introduction
Using the same methods as in for the EcoTypes Survey (see post here), I conducted an SPSS factor analysis on a 2010 International Social Survey Programme Environmental survey (found here). This survey, distributed to about 30 countries and taken by thousands, offers insight into the environmental values on some global scale.
Methods
I filtered the questionnaire to 23 questions that pertained to the perceptions of environmental problems and solutions and ran the factor analysis of these questions separately for four different countries: the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Russia. By examining the scree plot, I was able to identify several distinct factors from the data although these results were not as neat as in the EcoTypes Survey.
Results
Table 1: US Survey Data Rotated Matrix
[table]
Question Summary, Component Value 1, Component Value 2
It is too difficult for me to make a difference, -, .7
There more important things than protecting the environment, -, .5
There is no point in individual action without collective action, -, .9
Many claims about environmental threats are exaggerated, -, –
Its difficult to know if my lifestyle is helpful or harmful, -, –
How concerned are you with environmental issues?, -, –
We believe too much in science over feelings and faith, -, –
We worry too much about the environment instead of the economy, -, –
The earth simply cannot continue to support population growth, .9, –
How much do you feel you know about the causes of environmental problems?, -, –
Willingness to pay much higher prices to protect the environment, 1, –
Willingness to accept cuts to standard of living to protect environment, .9, –
Politicians can be trusted to do what is right, -, –
[/table]
Table 2: Canada Survey Data Rotated Matrix
[table]
Question Summary, Component Value 1, Component Value 2
It is too difficult for me to make a difference, -, –
There more important things than protecting the environment, -, -,
There is no point in individual action without collective action, .5, –
Many claims about environmental threats are exaggerated, .7, –
Its difficult to know if my lifestyle is helpful or harmful, -, –
How concerned are you with environmental issues?, .5, –
We believe too much in science over feelings and faith, -, .6
We worry too much about the environment instead of the economy, .8, –
The earth simply cannot continue to support population growth,-.8, –
How much do you feel you know about the causes of environmental problems?, -, -,
Willingness to pay much higher prices to protect the environment, -.8, –
Willingness to accept cuts to standard of living to protect environment, -.7, –
Politicians can be trusted to do what is right, -, .6
[/table]
Table 3: UK Survey Data Rotated Matrix
[table]
Question Summary, Component Value 1, Component Value 2
It is too difficult for me to make a difference, .5, –
There more important things than protecting the environment, .6, –
There is no point in individual action without collective action, .6, -,
Many claims about environmental threats are exaggerated, .7, -,
Its difficult to know if my lifestyle is helpful or harmful, -, –
How concerned are you with environmental issues?, .6, –
We believe too much in science over feelings and faith, -, .6
We worry too much about the environment instead of the economy, .8, –
The earth simply cannot continue to support population growth, -.8, –
How much do you feel you know about the causes of environmental problems?, -, –
Willingness to pay much higher prices to protect the environment, -.8, –
Willingness to accept cuts to standard of living to protect environment, -.8, –
Politicians can be trusted to do what is right, -, –
[/table]
Table 4: Russia Survey Data Rotated Matrix
[table]
Question Summary, Component Value 1, Component Value 2
It is too difficult for me to make a difference,-, –
There more important things than protecting the environment, -, .6
There is no point in individual action without collective action, -, .8
Many claims about environmental threats are exaggerated, -, .8
Its difficult to know if my lifestyle is helpful or harmful, -, .6
How concerned are you with environmental issues?, -, –
We believe too much in science over feelings and faith, -, –
We worry too much about the environment instead of the economy, -, –
The earth simply cannot continue to support population growth, .9, –
How much do you feel you know about the causes of environmental problems?, -, –
Willingness to pay much higher prices to protect the environment, .9, –
Willingness to accept cuts to standard of living to protect environment, .9, –
Politicians can be trusted to do what is right, -, –
[/table]
I only included significant values (those which were greater than .5 or less than -.5). For each of these countries, the scree plot only revealed one or two significant factors.
Discussion
For the USA, I identified two distinct factors. The first was willingness to pay, an factor which evaluates an economic incentive or cost to protect the environment. The second was individual responsibility, a factor which describes a respondent’s perception of the scope of responsibility of environmental action either in an individual or group scale.
For Canada, I identified two distinct factors as well. Again the first was willingness to pay, although this was correlated with the perception of the severity of the environmental dilemmas. This makes sense because perhaps those who believe the environmental situation is incredibly dire would be willing to pay more to protect the environment. The second factor was trust, both in science and in politicians.
For the United Kingdom, only one significant factor was revealed: similar to the first factor in Canada, this was a willingness to pay to protect the environment.
For Russia, two significant factors emerged. The first, like the other three countries, was the willingness to pay to protect the environment. The second can be characterized as individual responsibility.
The tricky thing about this particular survey is that the questions had various different styles and scales, making it difficult to sort through each of the questions and match the component values with the highs and lows of the answers. However, regardless of this complication, these factor analyses reveal specific values that appear across each of these nations. The most prominent factor across the board was a willingness to pay to protect the environment. What this reveals about global environment values is even trickier to determine. In fact, the content of the survey itself determines the factors that appear through SPSS analysis. It is important to remember this if I were to make broad claims about the significance of my results.
Conclusion
Although the sample size of this survey makes it theoretically possible to extrapolate factors and values, the scalar discombobulation and small amount of distinct factors does not make me confident about the significance of my results. If I were to dedicate more time to a statistical analysis of this survey, I would study the questions more carefully to determine how they might determine the factors and aim to find more novel findings than these results, perhaps by comparing across more varied countries or looking for demographic factors.