Perception of environmental and other risks - data from a 2018 social science questionnaire in the UK

This dataset contains the answers gathered from the 806 participants who successfully finished an on-line survey on risk perception of environment-associated risks. The survey was launched on the 15th of February 2018 and ran for five days. The survey contained best worst scaling (BWS) to understand people's perceptions to certain risks. In this study sixteen risks were included in the BWS including four air-, food- and waterborne illnesses and twelve other hazards. The BWS was run in two blocks to consider two factors: first the respondents selected which risk they fear the most/least and in the second block they selected the risk they believed they had the most/least control. The survey also contained a detailed questionnaire on the participants eating habits and health status. Participants were also asked about their knowledge on enteric pathogens and whether they have ever sought or would consider seeking advice on the symptoms. Respondents were also asked whether they have experienced the hazards described in the BWS and whether they have done anything to reduce the risks in their life.

The data were collected to gather information on people perceptions on environment-associated risks. This was done to understand the common knowledge on environment-associated pollutants and enlighten issues regarding risk management and mitigation.

The data were collected as part of the VIRAQUA project was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) under the Environmental Microbiology and Human Health (EMHH) Programme (NE/M010996/1).