3.5. Data analyses
Prior to statistical analyses, descriptive statistics for each variable, including means and standard deviations, were calculated to examine the data. To determine the dimensionality of NEP, a component analysis with varimax rotation was conducted and the Scree plot was produced. However, there was no clear indication that there is factorability because there were three extractions but there was not enough differentiation between loadings. Therefore, the decision to continue the statistical analyses treating the NEP as one variable was made.
First, correlations of all variables were conducted for the statistical analysis. Zero-order correlations were used to determine the bivariate relationships such as the strength and direction between each predictor and criterion variable.
The predictor variables that were correlated to any of the criterion variables were entered into multiple regression analyses to explore the effect of attitudes on waste management behaviors. Two kinds of attitudes were examined: 1) the attitude about the environment in general and 2) attitudes for specific waste management topics.