UBC Application of Statistics of Education Worksheet

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Water Conservation
Gong zihan
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Water Conservation
Title of Research: A study to Investigate Water Consumption Behaviour and the most
Effective Initiative to Encourage Water Conservation among Postgraduate Students
1.0 Research Questions
1) How much water do postgraduate students’ households consume?
2) What is the most effective initiative to encourage postgraduate students to conserve
water?
2.0 Research Objectives
1) To investigate water consumption behaviour among postgraduate students?
2) To determine the most effective water conservation initiative among postgraduate
students.
3.0 Research Design
The current study adopted a quantitative research design. A survey was designed to
assess the amount of water (in terms of monthly water bill in RM) consumed among
postgraduate students in their households. Further, the study wanted to determine the most
effective encourager for water conservation; hence, the survey contained questions to assess
this aspect. Indeed, this design would help the researcher assess the quantities of water
consumed and determine the initiatives that could be adopted to conserve water.
4.0 Research Sample
A sample comprising of 30 postgraduate students in the Universiti Teknologi
Malaysia was chosen for this study. Random sampling was used when choosing the
participants.
5.0 Research Instrument
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In this research, a Google form with 12 questions was prepared and administered to
the participants via email. The first two questions are demographic requiring postgraduate
students to provide details about their areas of stay and number of members in their
household. The other questions relate to the amount of water consumed by the post graduate
students in their households and how different initiatives would influence them towards
conservation of water.
6.0 Ethical Consideration
Ethical consideration in research was a key element that guided the design and
practices of the current study. The main principles reinforced during research include
voluntary participation, confidentiality, informed consent, results communication and
minimized potential for harm. For instant, participant confidentiality was advanced by not
requiring the participants to fill out personal information such as name or email address in the
questionnaire but rather respond to the questions anonymously. By so doing, the participants
did not feel any pressure to respond to the study question and thus, high levels of autonomy
and sincerity when answering the questions were encouraged. More importantly, participants
were not coerced and had the liberty to exit the study whenever they felt to do so.
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7.0 Results and Analysis
1) Table of Results
Water Consumption by order
Student
#
Area of
Stay
Family
Size
Jan
water
Bill (in
RM)
Water
Bill Feb
(in RM)
Cooking/dish
washing
Shower/toilet
Laundry
water
plants
car
washing
General
Cleaning
Practical
Infor. for
water
conserve.
Mandatory
water
restric. to
conserve.
28
March
Water
Bill
(in
RM)
26
1
3
32
2
Kuala
Lumpur
Kuching
6
4
2
3
1
2
4
4
38
34
33
3
5
3
2
2
1
3
Ipor
4
Kuching
2
21
30
25
4
4
1
1
2
2
23
21
25
5
3
2
3
1
5
Kuching
3
27
26
23
3
4
3
1
6
2
20
19
23
3
5
2
4
28
35
31
4
6
8
Kota
Bharu
George
Town
Ipor
3
31
30
28
5
9
Kuantan
2
29
26
26
10
Alor Setar
2
27
25
11
3
33
12
Kuala
Lumpur
Kuantan
3
13
Alor Setar
14
15
7
16
17
18
19
20
CO2
emission
from water
usage
2
Increased
water
charges
for
Conserve.
3
0
CO2
emission
from
electricity
usage
0
CO2
emission
from
transport
usage
4
5
3
4
0
0
5
2
4
1
5
2
2
0
1
4
1
3
1
0
4
1
2
5
2
3
1
0
5
1
2
2
4
3
3
0
0
3
2
2
1
2
2
4
3
0
0
1
5
3
1
3
3
3
4
3
0
0
2
6
5
4
2
2
1
5
2
3
1
1
4
29
5
3
3
1
1
1
4
3
2
0
0
4
30
28
5
5
2
2
2
1
4
4
2
1
0
5
26
29
27
2
6
1
1
2
1
3
3
4
0
0
5
2
27
28
25
3
6
2
1
2
3
4
4
3
1
0
5
Ipor
4
35
38
34
4
6
1
2
2
1
5
3
2
0
0
4
Kota
Bharu
Kuala
Lumpur
Shah Alam
5
42
39
43
4
3
2
2
2
1
5
4
5
0
1
5
2
23
21
23
3
4
3
3
2
2
4
3
2
0
0
4
3
26
28
25
5
5
3
2
3
1
4
3
3
1
0
1
George
Town
Kota
Bharu
Kuantan
2
29
27
23
6
5
4
1
1
2
3
1
4
0
0
4
3
32
28
24
6
3
3
2
1
1
4
3
2
0
0
5
2
26
25
25
6
4
2
1
2
2
3
2
3
1
0
5
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21
Kuantan
2
32
32
23
2
5
3
2
3
1
4
2
2
0
1
5
22
Shah Alam
3
33
36
29
3
4
1
3
2
1
3
2
4
0
0
5
23
Alor Setar
2
25
28
25
3
4
3
1
2
2
4
1
2
1
0
4
24
Kuching
4
36
41
31
4
5
1
2
2
1
3
1
3
0
0
5
25
Alor Setar
5
43
45
32
5
5
2
1
2
1
4
2
3
0
0
4
26
Shah Alam
3
30
25
25
5
6
1
2
1
2
5
1
3
1
0
5
27
Ipor
2
25
26
26
5
3
2
2
1
1
4
1
4
0
0
4
28
George
Town
Kota
Bharu
Ipor
2
25
23
21
5
5
1
3
1
1
4
1
1
0
1
5
3
24
25
21
4
4
3
2
1
2
5
2
2
1
0
4
2
21
24
19
6
3
2
2
2
1
5
3
3
0
0
3
29
30
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2) SPSS Analysis Output
8.0 Discussion
Water consumption behaviour among postgraduate students in Malaysia was
investigated in this survey. All the questionnaires were filled and returned. The data collected
was organized and analysed using SPSS statistical tool. The study established that
postgraduate students had family sizes ranging between 2 and 5 with an average of 3
members per family. As evident in the analysis, consumption of water is directly proportional
to family size i.e. small households with 2 members consumed the least amount of water
while large households with 5 members consumed the largest amounts. In the first quarter of
2022, the largest amount of water was consumed in February with water bills that averaged
RM 29.07 per household. On the other hand, the households consumed the least amount of
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water in the month of March whereby an average water bill of RM 26.6 was obtained while
the month of January averaged at RM 28.97. According to a study conducted by Bari et al
(2015), households in Malaysia with 2 to 4 members have water bills averaging between RM
20 to RM 30 per month. Therefore, the results obtained in this study are representative of the
entire population in the country.
Further, the findings of this study revealed that shower/toilet is the household activity
that consumes the largest quantity of water closely followed by cooking/dish washing. By
order of consumption whereby 1 represented the least used and 6 the most frequently used,
these two activities had averages of 4.5 and 4.3 respectively. Car washing and general
cleaning consumed the least amounts of water with orders averaging at 1.7 and 1.3
respectively indicating that these two activities are not frequently conducted among post
graduate students. Plant watering was also associated with least consumption of water which
may imply that there are few newly planted trees in these households. Moreover, these
activities do not show unrealistic consumption of water.
This analyse also wanted to determine how various water conservation strategies can
influence the post graduate students towards actually conserving water. These strategies
included practical information on tips on saving water, mandatory water restriction and
increases water charges. The results of the study showed that practical information on tips on
saving water would significant influence the participants to conserve water and cut down
their monthly water bills. In terms of order this initiative averaged at 4.0 while the others
range between 2.0 and 3.0. This meant that postgraduate students were least affected by
mandatory water restriction and increase in water charges. Evidently, water consumed by the
populations is by will and within their cost affordability. Therefore, based on these results the
most prudent measure to take to achieve substantive water conservation is to provide the
population with practical information on tips on saving water.
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Lastly, CO2 emissions into the atmosphere is a global challenge in the recent past.
According to O’Neill et al (2012), CO2 is a greenhouse gas that has been regarded as
significant contributor to global warming experienced across the globe. Markedly, the
increasing levels of CO2 in the atmosphere is associated with human activities rather than
natural processes (Chikaraishi et al., 2015). In this regard, the current study wanted to
determine activities carried out by post graduate students that are associated with emission of
CO2 and their approximate levels. Considering that it was difficult for the participants to
really quantify these emission, the study only assessed their opinions with regard to three
basic activities i.e. water usage, electricity usage and transport usage.
The findings of revealed that transport usage accounts for the largest quantities of
CO2 being emitted into the atmosphere. This aspect emanates from the fact that a larger part
of the population in the country are still using combustible engine vehicles that are known to
significantly emit CO2. Water usage was associated with the least quantities of CO2 emitted
implying that even when consumed in large quantities, water has less impacts in terms of
environmental pollution. Nevertheless, the government and other key stakeholders should
formulate and implement policies that warrant reduction of CO2 emission such adopting
green energy across all sectors including use of electric vehicles in transport among others.
9.0 Conclusion
People think water consumption behaviours among postgraduate students in Malaysia
is very importent. All questionnaires administered to the 30 participants selected for the study
were filled out and returned. Undeniably, there were minimal errors during the study. As
indicated the results of this study agree with those of past studies on the same subject as well
as other information available in literature. Indeed, this means that credible data was obtained
and the study results can be replicated.
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References
Bari, M., Begum, R. A., Nesadurai, N., & Pereira, J. J. (2015). Water consumption patterns in
greater Kuala Lumpur: potential for reduction. Asian Journal of Water, Environment
and Pollution, 12(3), 1-7.
Chikaraishi, M., Fujiwara, A., Kaneko, S., Poumanyvong, P., Komatsu, S., & Kalugin, A.
(2015). The moderating effects of urbanization on carbon dioxide emissions: A latent
class modeling approach. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 90, 302317.
O’Neill, B. C., Liddle, B., Jiang, L., Smith, K. R., Pachauri, S., Dalton, M., & Fuchs, R.
(2012). Demographic change and carbon dioxide emissions. The Lancet, 380(9837),
157-164.
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