Table 2.
Respondents’ perceptions of the environmental status in rural and urban areas
| Rural n = 1760 | Urban n = 5011 | Unpaired t-test | 95% Confidence Interval | Mann-Whitney U testγ | Fisher’s exact testδ | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean (SD)* | No. (%) disagreeω | No. (%) agreeα | Mean (SD)* | No. (%) disagreeω | No. (%) agreeα | p-valueβ | lower | Upper | Z-value | p-value | ||
| Did you notice an improvement in the air quality? | 3.21 (0.99) | 411 (23.36%) | 682 (38.75%) | 3.38 (0.99) | 912 (18.2%) | 2353 (46.96%) | < 0.001 | 0.111 | 0.219 | −6.288 | < 0.001 | < 0.001 |
| Did you notice a decrease in factory gas emissions? | 3.25 (0.99) | 355 (20.18%) | 697 (39.6%) | 3.38 (1.03) | 1003 (20.02%) | 2374 (47.38%) | < 0.001 | 0.073 | 0.182 | −4.705 | < 0.001 | < 0.001 |
| Did you notice an improvement in the water quality of rivers and lakes? | 3.01 (1.06) | 579 (32.9%) | 564 (32.05%) | 3.17 (1.03) | 1275 (25.45%) | 1880 (37.52%) | < 0.001 | 0.102 | 0.216 | −5.656 | < 0.001 | < 0.001 |
| Did you notice a decrease in the surrounding noise? | 3.22 (1.24) | 636 (36.14%) | 886 (50.34%) | 3.55 (1.22) | 1291 (25.77%) | 3143 (62.72%) | < 0.001 | 0.265 | 0.400 | −9.866 | < 0.001 | < 0.001 |
| Did you notice the numbers decreased in the tourist areas? | 3.7 (1.01) | 219 (12.45%) | 1119 (63.58%) | 3.84 (1.04) | 664 (13.26%) | 3628 (72.4%) | < 0.001 | 0.085 | 0.195 | −6.184 | < 0.001 | < 0.001 |
| Did you notice that the numbers and gatherings in malls, restaurants, and stores decrease? | 3.02 (1.37) | 791 (44.95%) | 821 (46.65%) | 3.35 (1.37) | 1788 (35.69%) | 2941 (58.69%) | < 0.001 | 0.254 | 0.402 | −8.725 | < 0.001 | < 0.001 |
| Did you notice that public transport is less crowded? | 2.53 (1.38) | 1075 (61.08%) | 567 (32.22%) | 2.97 (1.42) | 2321 (46.32%) | 2309 (46.08%) | < 0.001 | 0.361 | 0.513 | −11.070 | < 0.001 | < 0.001 |
* – Participant perceptions were measured using the following scale: 1 = Strongly Disagree; 2 = Disagree; 3 = Neither Agree nor Disagree; 4 = Agree; 5 = Strongly Agree
ω– Percentage in disagreement was calculated using those who responded “Strongly disagree” or “Disagree”
α – Percentage in agreement was calculated using those who responded “Strongly agree” or “Agree”
β – p-values from unpaired t-test comparing rural with urban (assuming unequal variance)
γ – Used to confirm unpaired t-test results
δ – Used to compare No. (%) agree between rural with urban