New Water Culture versus the Traditional Design and Validation of a Questionnaire to Discriminate between Both

Alicia Benarroch,Alejandra Ramírez-Segado,María Rodríguez-Serrano

doi:10.3390/su13042174

Abstract

This article addresses the process of designing and validating a questionnaire on the New Water Culture, which aims to collect information on various issues related to water, such as its management, savings, and consumption. The questionnaire was subjected to a double validation process: an evaluation by a panel of experts, including members of the New Water Culture Foundation, and a pilot study, which allowed us to estimate the validation of the content as well as the corresponding internal consistency of the questionnaire. The construction and validation process resulted in a questionnaire consisting of 27 items with a total of 71 variables distributed in four sections: the first is related to scarcity, quantity, and distribution of water; the second collects questions about the different dimensions of water; the third analyses the different ways of carrying out water management; and the fourth and last section is related to personal actions associated with water. The reliability study showed a Cronbach alpha of 0.913, which demonstrates the development of a robust and reliable instrument allowing the identification of the most problematic issues associated with the New Water Culture.

Highlights

Humanity is facing an unprecedented water crisis [1], which means that more than40% of the world’s population is suffering from water shortages, the most severe being in the world’s most impoverished countries
In a crisis scenario such as this, it is of the utmost priority that countries commit to water management strategies that guarantee the population’s access to sufficient quantities of quality fresh water
The instrument chosen to investigate the conceptions of citizens and future teachers about the New Water Culture (NWC) was a questionnaire

Summary

Introduction

Humanity is facing an unprecedented water crisis [1], which means that more than40% of the world’s population is suffering from water shortages, the most severe being in the world’s most impoverished countries. In the mid-20th century, in response to the increase in water demand as a result of population growth and the expansion of agriculture and industry, water management policies based on “supply” strategies began to be developed, so called because they were designed to meet the growing demand for water by increasing the amount available for consumption. This materialised in the construction of large hydraulic works, such as dams, transfers, desalination plants, deviation of flows, over-exploitation of aquifers, etc., which encouraged the domination and the uncontrolled exploitation of aquatic ecosystems with the consequent environmental repercussions.

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Results

Conclusion