An empirical survey investigation of energy conserving behavior of Texas citizens utilizing the human ecology theoretical perspective

Abstract

The goals of this research were to demonstrate the applicability of human ecology theory for the study of energy-society relationships, to develop hypotheses from the human ecology theoretical framework about the nature of energy-society relationships, and to attempt to substantiate the hypotheses by empirical means. The first goal was accomplished by outlining a perspective on America's energy situation which defined the current period as a transition phase from a low cost, high availability energy environment to an environment characterized by higher energy cost and reduced energy availability. Then, a literature review discussing social science work already done in energy-society relationships, a discussion of the nature of human ecology theory, and a theoretical model of the American energy situation were presented. The second goal of this research was accomplished by developing hypotheses relating to a dependent variable of energy conserving behavior of ten independent variables. Five of these variables were either standard human ecology variables or variables frequently used in energy related studies. Two were proposed as intervening variables between structural characteristics of an aggregate and the dependent variable. Three were standard socio-demographic variables. The third goal of this research was accomplished by means of the creation and utilization of "Energy In the 80's" under the sponsorship of several groups. The data developed from the administration of the survey proved significant for eight of the ten proposed relationships. The three strongest associations were between energy conserving behavior and energy information, education, and income. The successful completion of this third goal was comprised by two problems. First, several of the substantiated hypotheses were low in their Kendall's Tau B levels of association. Second, of the independent variables which were classified as having strong levels of association with energy conserving behavior, none were standard human ecology variables. Two explanations were proposed for these particular findings. First, methodological problems involved in the creation of the survey may have lowered association measures. Second, the individual level of the data may have not been compatible with the aggregate level demands of human ecology. Lastly, comparisons were drawn to other related research which demonstrated that "Energy In the 80's" did produce findings compatible with other works in the field.