Charts regarding Independent Survey
Key: For Opinion of Water:
1 = Beautiful, no problems
2 = Good, Minor Problems
3 = Fair, Slight Impairment
4 = Poor, Substantial Impairment
5 = Total Impairment
For Swimmability (How often could one swim in
Cuyahoga River) and Edibility of Fish (How often could one eat fish
from Cuyahoga River):
1 = Daily
2 = Weekly
3 = Monthly
4 = Yearly
5 = Never
This graph was prepared so that I may understand the age distribution of the
survey respondents. I received the most surveys from residents in their
fifties, and I received almost as many from residents in the 18-21 age
category. If this study were to continue, I would suggest that more
surveys are needed from residents in their thirties.
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The original intent of this survey was to find if a particular age group had a
distinct opinion of the Cuyahoga River. My hypothesis was that those
residents who lived in Northeast Ohio during the infamous fire of 1969 and who
saw the Cuyahoga at its worst would still regard the River with negative
opinion. According to this graph of the average opinion of the Cuyahoga
River within age groups, those in their twenties have a worse opinion of the
River than any other age group. In fact, the oldest residents had the most
favorable opinion, thereby disproving my hypothesis. If I were to
speculate on this, I think that because these respondents did see the River at
its worst, the present condition of the Cuyahoga River seems dramatically
better, whereas those in their twenties only know the River for its present
condition and have no negative memories to improve their opinions of the current
River. (But this is just speculation and further sampling would be needed
to understand the reasoning.)
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As one can see on this chart, not one age group believes that one can
swim in the Cuyahoga River more than once a month. Those
respondents 18-21 years old have the best opinion of the "swimmability"
of the Cuyahoga River, and those in their thirties have the lowest
regard of the River's swimmability.
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This chart depicts the respondents' opinions of how often one could
eat fish caught in the Cuyahoga River without risk of health. As
seen in the Swimmability chart, not one age group believes that one can
eat fish from the Cuyahoga River more than once a month. Those
respondents 18-21 years old have the best opinion of the frequency of
eating fish from the Cuyahoga River, and those in their thirties have
the lowest regard of edibility.
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This chart represents the combined opinions of the age groups.
It is evident from this chart that general opinions about the Cuyahoga
River are relatively high; but when specified, opinions regarding the
water quality of the Cuyahoga River in swimming and eating fish is
low. For example, those in their thirties had a general
opinion of 3 (fair), but when asked about the swimmability and edibility
of fish, they had 5 (Never) for each specified opinion. Those
respondents who are in their sixties have the greatest difference
between the general opinion and the specified opinions. The two
variables of swimmability and edibility of fish have similar values
within each age group, in all the age groups.
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