Data Analysis

What struck you about the data?

From our online survey, it struck me that someone said that Solar Panels are not allowed where he/she lived. It made me wonder why though. Since using renewable energy is something that we are encouraged to use today, why aren't these people aloud to use them in their homes?
Also, Anapaula and I went to the High Tech High Sierra Club on Thursday and interviewed some of it's members. I was surprised by their ideas and opinions of solar panels. For example, we interviewed two 9th grade students (Paloma Fernandez and Emma Jensen) and asked them the question "Would you buy solar panels if the government could help pay for them" they answered that the government shouldn't be wasting money and they suggested maybe a Non-Governmental Organization should help people pay for the solar panels.

Were you surprised by any of the results? How so?

Yes, I was surprised that people didn't know what solar panels were or how they worked. I honestly thought that the word of solar panels and other renewable sources has been very well spread among the states, and especially to our youth. So when I saw a majority of our results from our online survey saying they didn't know what they were, I was appalled.

What were your expectations? Were these met or not?

I was expecting to get a wide range of answers as to why people didn't have solar panels and what were their opinions of them. I also added a question that said "Do you think we should change our lifestyle to live sustainably" I mainly received the answer "Yes" but I also got a No and a "What does sustainable mean". From that, I think I can conclude that other people outside of our class took my survey. I also got many other reasons as to why people weren't using solar energy besides that they were being lazy or that they were expensive. For example, people thought that there might be a catch if we received financial aid from the government to pay for solar panels, plus what I stated earlier, that solar panels are not aloud where they live.

Based on your findings, what type of ad campaign will you run? Will you being to educate people? Encourage or coerce people? Embarrass people? What is your angle?

I definitely want to encourage people to resort to solar energy! But, I would also like to at the same time educate and slightly embarrass them. Our goal is to mainly educate people in an interesting way that will encourage and open their eyes to our options to improve our world and what a benefit it is to have solar energy.