Process Description 10/7/25

For my research project, my group is currently gathering data on young adult engagement regarding nature conservation, but specifically water conservation. For my part of this project, I am researching how young adults themselves would like to be engaged when it comes to getting them involved in these activities, clubs, volunteer opportunities, and more. When it came to figuring out which method I wanted to use for collecting data, I came to the conclusion that interviews would be the best choice for me. The reason why I chose that method is because I need to be able to completely understand why each person answers the question in the way that they do. By conducting interviews where I see each participant as they respond, I can check the way they respond in their body language as well as their tone of voice. I feel that there are many ways that people feel when answering a question, so by conducting interviews where I can see their response in every aspect, it allows me to take into account the various signs they show.

I have currently interviewed 9 different people. My target audience group that I am researching is young adults, and specifically young adults who are students at Southern Illinois University of Edwardsville. Since I am trying to get an understanding of how young adults want to be engaged when it comes to involvement with nature conservation, it made it a bit easier to interview people by choosing to find people on campus. So, to conduct these interviews, I just chose random people I came across on campus in order to not have a biased audience. Since there are a variety of different cultures, backgrounds, and upbringings in general on campus, it allows me to get perspectives from a varying audience.

Lastly, the interviews took place inside a car parked outside rendleman and inside a classroom in the Founders Hall basement. I did not want to waste the student’s time as they have commitments and things they have to get to, so I just conducted the interviews right where they were in order to be as efficient as possible. The types of questions I asked them had to do with their engagement with nature conservation as well as their knowledge about environmental clubs and events on campus. I presented them with a specific question that outrightly asked them how they would get young adults engaged in nature conservation. Lastly, I asked them questions to gauge how open they would be to getting involved in these clubs and activities.