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Design and development of data capture tool
A paper-based, self-complete questionnaire was designed
and developed for this study. Perceptions of personal risk,
control, responsibility, and hygiene consciousness for
food safety were determined using a 10-point variation of
a visual analog scale whereby adjectives were included on
the extreme ends of the numerical values on the scale to
enable respondents to indicate the strength of their attitude
toward the statements (8). In this study, a rating scale was
developed that involved a horizontal line, anchored at one
end with 1 = the worst outcome, i.e., very high risk of food
poisoning, and anchored at the other end with 10 = the best
outcome, i.e., very low risk of food poisoning. A 10-point
scale is a recognized and appropriate scale (23). Respondents
were required to make a judgment and indicate by
selecting a number between 1 and 10 where on the scale
they perceived themselves to be in response to questions
regarding their perceived level of risk, control, responsibility,
and consciousness. For example, " How much control
do you think you have in preventing food poisoning? "
Subsequent questions took the same format, but referred
to others. The 10-point scale and question structure were
used for each construct, namely, perceived level of risk,
perceived level of control, perceived level of responsibility,
and perceived level of hygiene consciousness, thereby giving
eight questions regarding perceptions of risk, control,
responsibility, and hygiene consciousness for self and for
others. This scale has been used and validated in previous
research (31, 33, 34, 68, 70) to determine perceptions of
risk, control, and responsibility for foodborne illness. The
scale considers two constructs of the Health Belief Model
(73): perceived susceptibility (i.e., a person's perception of
the chance/likelihood of contracting a foodborne illness)
and self-efficacy (i.e., a person's perception of their responsibility
to control the risk and their confidence in their
ability to perform the food safety practice). The reliability
and validity of the scale were not determined for this study
because these constructs were established in the previously
mentioned studies.
Recruitment of participants for data collection
Consumers (aged ≥18 years) who visited a Health Day
information stall organized by the Modern University
for Business and Science, School of Health Sciences, at a
shopping mall in Beirut, Lebanon, were invited to participate
in the study by being given a participant information sheet
detailing the purpose of the study and the involvement
required. Consumers interested in participating in the study
informed a member of staff at the information stall of their
desire to participate. A target sample size was not determined
before data collection because all data collection had to
take place during the Health Day at the shopping mall. Data
detailing how many consumers were approached and invited
to participate were not captured.
Data collection
Consumers that indicated a desire to participate in the
study were provided with the paper-based questionnaire
and pen. Participants completed the questionnaire in a quiet
area close to the information stall where they could sit.
Participants had the option to have the questions read out
to them in English or Arabic and provide verbal responses.
When participants opted to participate verbally, a trained
individual would read the questions verbatim. No incentives
were given for participating in the study. Participants were
informed that completion of the questionnaire was voluntary,
and return of the completed questionnaire implied consent
to participate in the study.
Data analysis
Data captured in the completed paper-based questionnaires
were manually entered into a specifically designed
database (Qualtrics XM Platform™, Qualtrics, Provo, UT,
USA). The data set was downloaded in appropriate formats
for analysis. Descriptive statistics were conducted using an
Excel 2016 spreadsheet (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond,
WA, USA) to obtain information regarding the sample,
giving an illustrative summary of the data. An analytic plan
was pre-specified. Inferential statistics were conducted using
SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 26.0 (IBM Corp.,
Armonk, NY, USA) to determine statistically significant
differences or associations. For example, the Wilcoxon
signed-rank test was conducted to determine significant
differences in perceived levels of risk, control, responsibility,
and hygiene consciousness between self and others. A
Mann-Whitney U test was used to explore significant differences
in perceived risk, control, and responsibility according
to demographic characteristics, or a Spearman's rank
correlation (ρ) was conducted to determine whether any
relationship existed between perceptions of risk, control,
and responsibility of respondents. The calculated mean and
median values are presented to illustrate the average value
of perceptions in this study because the mean value considers
all values in the data set, whereas the median value only
considers the most central value.
RESULTS
Participant demographic characteristics
As indicated in Table 1, 95 Lebanese consumers in total
participated in the study: 45% were female, 24% were male,
and 31% did not disclose their gender when completing the
questionnaire (comparisons among gender were conducted
between those who selected male and female only). The
study included participants who were 18 to 79 years of age:
the majority were 18 to 29 (41%) and 30 to 39 (32%) years
old. One person did not disclose age (comparisons were
conducted according to the age groups specified in Table 1).
More than half (58%) reported preparing meals from raw
ingredients in their kitchen on a weekly basis, or more often.
March/April Food Protection Trends 115
Food Protection Trends - March/April 2023

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