Research Questions
Research Questions¶
Is there a relationship between water quality and perception of water quality?
Based on the literature review and background information, there is utility in examining relationships between water quality, knowledge, perception, and other variables. Several questions are examined, and several hypotheses emerge:
Research Question |
H0 (Null Hypothesis) |
H1 (Hypothesis) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Is there a relationship between water quality and perception of water quality? |
Local water quality is unrelated to water quality perception. |
Local water quality relates to water quality perception. |
2 |
Does knowledge of water quality affect perception? |
Increased knowledge is independent of perception. |
An increase knowledge of water quality issues relates to an increased perception of severity. |
3 |
Does the level of obtained education relate to water quality knowledge? |
Increased education is independent of knowledge of water quality. |
Increased education relates to more knowledge about water quality. |
4 |
Does the level of obtained education relate perception? |
Increased education is independent of an increased perception of severity. |
Increased education relates to an increased perception of severity |
5 |
Are there differences between water quality perception, and water quality knowledge, in rural vs. urban households? |
There is no significant difference between urban and rural households. |
There is a significant difference in perception of severity of water quality issues between urban and rural households. |
6 |
Is there a relationship between water quality and knowledge of water quality? |
There is no relation between water quality and water quality knowledge. |
There is a relation between water quality and water quality knowledge. |
The scope of this thesis is to provide descriptive analysis of the relations between water quality, education, perception, knowledge. Rural status is also examined in one research question and is used as a comparative variable in others. Other demographic data and question responses are used to aid the analysis and discussion but are assumed to be outside of the scope unless specifically mentioned. Multi-variable concurrent analysis is outside of the scope of this thesis.