Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.
The 2009 survey is the seventh in a series commissioned by the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) (formerly the Department of the Environment (DOE) and the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR)). The aim of the research is to monitor and measure attitudes and behaviours towards the environment in England. The previous six surveys in the series were carried out in 1986, 1989, 1993, 1996-1997, 2001 and 2007. Some questions are comparable, allowing time series analysis. Users should note that the UK Data Archive currently holds all surveys in the series apart from the fourth (1996-1997). The aim of the 2009 survey, which was co-funded by DEFRA and the Energy Saving Trust, was to monitor core elements included in previous DEFRA surveys within the series and similar surveys undertaken by the Energy Saving Trust between 2006 and 2008, as well as assessing new areas. More specifically, the objectives were:to identify changes in people's beliefs, attitudes, and values in relation to the environment, climate change and pro-environmental behaviourto monitor individuals' reported motivations and barriersto monitor self-reported behaviours across a range of behavioural areas and the ways in which these may have changed since the undertaking of other recent surveysto enable DEFRA and the Energy Saving Trust to assess and baseline attitudes and behaviours in new areasFurther information may be found on DEFRA's Public attitude surveys web page.
Main Topics:
The main 2009 questionnaire covered: beliefs and attitudes towards the environment and knowledge of environmental terms; saving energy in the home; energy efficient appliances and lights bulbs; using less water; purchasing behaviours; recycling, composting and re-using; food and food waste; travel behaviours and attitudes; carbon offsetting; biodiversity and use of green space; and volunteering behaviours. A set of additional questions were also asked in a TNS Omnibus survey, in which the main topics covered included: carbon offsetting; seasonal food; low impact diets; and biodiversity. Standard Measures Throughout the survey, many environmental behaviours have been measured using a response scale based on Prochaska and DiClemente's "stages of change model".
One-stage stratified or systematic random sample
See documentation for further details.
Face-to-face interview
