Factors associated with the perception on radiation risks.

Date of Completion

2012

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science in Radiologic Technology

Keywords

Radiation Effects

Abstract

In this study, the researchers aimed on determining the general overview of the public’s mindset in relevance to their perception on radiation risks, specifically medical X-rays and nuclear power. This study used the descriptive method, applying the survey technique. The survey was conducted using a self-made questionnaire, which inquired about their demographic profiles, perceived risk for medical X-rays and nuclear power along with their reasons for such ratings in accordance with the Psychometric Paradigm. The questionnaire was validated by faculty members from the College of Medical Radiation Technology, De La Salle Health Sciences Institute. The respondents chosen for this study were the residents of Barangay Neogan located in the City of Tagaytay because of its diverse socio-economic community and are ideal for obtaining unbiased results. A total of 360 respondents were included in the study using simple random sampling technique. The data gathered were treated using the following statistical tools: frequency, mean, standard deviation, Kruskal-Wallis test, and Mann-Whitney test. Based on the results, (1) majority of the respondents is female, had children and are not in favor of nuclear technology. Most of them belong to the age group of 18 years old to 30 years old, reached college level and have a monthly family income below 10,000 pesos. Media is the most common source of radiation; (2) the respondents have a higher perception on radiation risks of nuclear power than medical X-rays. For medical x-rays, most considered the technology as low risk while for nuclear power, most consider the technology as high risk. However, the average ratings for both technologies are interpreted as moderate risk. (3) for medical x-rays, most of the respondents associated the following risk dimensions for their perception on radiation risk; a) small risk – benefits, children and future generations, controllability, voluntariness and trust; b) very high risk – media attention, voluntariness, personal risk and dread; for nuclear power, most of the respondents associated the following risk dimensions for their perception on radiation risks; a) no risk – there are no respondents who rated no risk for nuclear power; b) high risk – known to exposed, known to scientist, novelty, media attention, benefits, equity of beneficiary, origin, catastrophic effect, immediacy of effect, children and future generations, reversibility, personal risk, dread and trust; (4) the perception on radiation risks of the respondents for medical x-ray is the same regardless of their age, gender and whether they have children. Likewise, perception on radiation risks of nuclear power is the same when the respondents are grouped according to age and gender and whether they have children or not. There are significant differences in the respondents’ perception on radiation risks for both medical x-rays and nuclear power when grouped according to educational attainment.

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