Effect of the Covid-19 pandemic period on Zero Waste Awareness: a scale development survey in Turkey

Abstract

The purpose of study was to develop and validate a scale in order to investigate the consciousness and habits of individuals on zero waste awareness pre-pandemic and during COVID-19 period in Turkey. The study group which was sampled using criteria-sampling consists of 523 individuals who have or have not been infected with the virus. The data collected were analyzed using IBM SPPS and IBM SPSS AMOS software. Cronbach's alpha coefficient calculated for internal consistency in determining the level of reliability of the developed scale was 0.82 and 0.79 for pre-pandemic and during pandemic, respectively. The Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin coefficients (0.77 and 0.79) and the Bartlett test of sphericity results (both p<0.000) showed that the sample size is satisfactory for the measurement of the construct and the items have patterned relationships. Principal component analysis generated an 8-item scale with two factors. While the 8 items chosen to explain 62% of the total variance for pre-pandemic, they explain 61% of the total variance for during pandemic. Using the results, the goodness of fit indices used (chi-square/df, RMSEA, GFI, IFI, CFI, CR, AVE) for the model have presented that the scale developed in study is valid and reliable research instrument.