1) Introduction: frame of the general problem, literature gap, research question, and novelty
1.1) Literature review
2) Method and application
2.1) Design
2.2) Method
2.3) Case study description.
3) Discussion [Due to the nature of the paper (methodology), we have titled the 3rd subheading you suggest ‘Discussion’ as opposed to ‘Results and Discussion’ as there are no results]
4) Conclusion
As this is an exploratory piece of work, we did not formulate specific hypotheses. However, upon reviewer suggestions, we have been more specific about our study aims. It now reads:
To this end, our aims are to present a methodology that identifies: a) current behaviour is with respect to single-use and reusable cup use; b) the various capability, opportunity and motivation related influences on single-use and reusable cup use; c) people’s views on potential intervention strategies to promote reusable cup use
This is being conducted for multiple linear regression. We have re-run the power analysis using G*Power for a fixed model multiple linear regression analysis.
We've clarified that convenience sampling will be used.
To control for whether the participant buys takeaway hot drinks in the first place, we have added the following in the first section of the survey:
3.2. How often do you purchase hot drinks from cafes/catering outlets?
3.3. When you buy a hot drink, how often do you get it 'take-away' as opposed to drinking it in the cafe/catering outlet?
3.4. How often do you purchase hot drinks from UCL cafes/catering outlets?
3.5. When you buy a hot drink at UCL, how often do you get it 'take-away' as opposed to drinking it in the cafe/catering outlet?
The revised survey is openly available via OSF (the same link in the manuscript).
Background: An estimated 2.5-5 billion single-use coffee cups are disposed of annually in the UK, most of which consist of paper with a plastic lining. Due to the difficulty of recycling poly-coated material, most of these cups end up incinerated or put in landfills. As drinking (take-away) hot beverages is a behaviour, behaviour change interventions are necessary to reduce the environmental impacts of single-use coffee cup waste. Basing the design of interventions on a theoretical understanding of behaviour increases the transparency of the development process, the likelihood that the desired changes in behaviour will occur and the potential to synthesise findings across studies.
Aim: The present paper presents a methodology for identifying influences on using single-use use and reusable cups as a basis for designing intervention strategies.
Method and application: Two behaviour change frameworks: The Theoretical Domains Framework and the Capability-Opportunity-Motivation-Behaviour model of behaviour, were used to develop an online survey and follow-up interviews. Research findings can inform the selection of intervention strategies using a third framework, the Behaviour Change Wheel. The application of the methodology is illustrated in relation to understanding barriers and enablers to single-use and reusable cup use across the setting of a London university campus.
Conclusions: We have developed a detailed method for identifying behavioural influences relevant to pro-environmental behaviours, together with practical guidance for each step and a worked example. Benefits of this work include it providing guidance on developing study materials and collecting and analysing data. We offer this methodology to the intervention development and implementation community to assist in the application of behaviour change theory to interventions.