Summary information

Study title

Reducing Plastic Packaging and Food Waste Through Product Innovation Simulation: Household Behavioural Insights Around Packaging, Single and Reuse Options, and Food: 2021-2022

Creator

Pickering, J, University of Sheffield

Study number / PID

855838 (UKDA)

10.5255/UKDA-SN-855838 (DOI)

Data access

Restricted

Series

Not available

Abstract

This dataset was produced as part of the project: Reducing plastic packaging and food waste through product innovation simulation, funded by the NERC (Ref: NE/V010654/1). The wider project was concerned with building a Discrete Event Simulation (DES) model that can simulate food and food packaging as it moves through a household, from purchase to disposal. This dataset is qualitative in nature and was created to inform the modelling process. Remote qualitative interviews were planned and conducted, and participants were also asked to fill out entries on a research diary covering 4 days within a 7 day period. The interviews were semi-structured, and questions relating to waste and food practices were planned around 4 main areas: general household background, daily routines, weekly routines and shopping habits, waste and disposal practices, and attitudes to potential innovation in food packaging. A fifth section was based on photo-elicitation, to gauge participant attitudes to ageing produce. The diaries provided to participants had a system of prompts and questions that aimed to capture the movement of particular food items through the home and practices related to this movement over four separate days. Image files could also be submitted by participants, either included in the text files or as email attachments to the researcher. Follow up interviews were planned, which would be conducted after the second diary entry was complete and returned, but time constraints meant that only one follow up interview was conducted. A screening questionnaire was used to recruit and select participants, which was disseminated through university research recruitment channels and through social media accounts set up for the project. Informed consent for this questionnaire was gained at that stage, but was also gained prior to the remote interview, for both the interview and the diary research. However, the questionnaire data was not analysed and is not included in the collection...
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Methodology

Data collection period

01/11/2021 - 01/02/2022

Country

United Kingdom

Time dimension

Not available

Analysis unit

Individual
Household

Universe

Not available

Sampling procedure

Not available

Kind of data

Text
Still image

Data collection mode

Remote semi-structured interviews (with photo-elicitation elements) and diary research, with photographic elements. A screening questionnaire was used to recruit and select research participants, which was disseminated through university research recruitment channels and through social media accounts set up for the project. The population of interest was the general public of the UK, and the sample was diverse enough to be useful for qualitative purposes. Informed consent for this questionnaire was gained at that stage, but was also gained prior to the remote interview, for both the interview and the diary research. However, the questionnaire data was not analysed and is not included in the collection as it was for recruitment purposes only. The data collection is comprised of 28 interview transcripts, 25 completed research diaries and 91 of image files (produced by research participants as part of the research diaries).

Funding information

Grant number

NE/V010654/1

Access

Publisher

UK Data Service

Publication year

2022

Terms of data access

The UK Data Archive has granted a dissemination embargo. The embargo will end on 1 September 2023 and the data will then be available in accordance with the access level selected.

Related publications

Not available