ENST20001 Human Behavior and Environment
Assignment 2: Assessing factors that influence environmental action
Word limit: 1500 words (+/‐10%) excluding reference list, interviewee quotes, coding table and transcripts of interviews and field notes
Assessment weighting: 35% of final grade
Late penalty: 5% per day
Objective
The objective of this assignment is to explore the relative importance of contextual and attitudinal factors in shaping environmentally significant behaviour.
It responds in part to Stern (2000)’s assertion that: “The attitude‐behaviour relationship is strongest when contextual factors are neutral and approaches zero when contextual factors are strongly positive or negative, effectively compelling or prohibiting the behaviour in question” (Stern 2000, p415).
Learning outcomes
Through completing this assignment, you will develop:
- a deeper understanding of theories of human‐environment action and how these apply to issues of interest to you
- a better understanding of why people do and do not take environmental action
- basic research skills for understanding human‐environment interactions, including: o introductory level skills in qualitative data collection and analysis o skills for reporting social scientific information and applying this to questions about human environment interactions
Task
In this project you will research how attitudes and contextual factors shape the action or inaction of a small number of people on an environmental issue. Through an interview and observation of one case (e.g. person or household), you will undertake a qualitative exploration of Stern’s (2000) hypothesis regarding the influence of contextual and attitudinal factors on behaviour.
You will answer the general research question:
- How important are contextual and attitudinal factors in shaping a particular environmental behaviour? Further advice on this assignment is provided on pages 3‐6.