Results

Data Collection
So, what we did the for the data collection was to conduct physical surveys outside supermarkets (NTUC, Cold Storage, Shop"n"Save, etc) as it was only legal to do so, in different areas of Singapore( North, South, East and West). We did this so as to reach out to the people who came to shop the groceries as they were the ones who were the most interested and "up-to-date" on these type of produce issues. Initially, we wanted to group the survey results as to their respective locations they were held, however, later on, we called for a change of plans to group the survey results as a whole as this grouping of survey results to their locations were quite unnecessary and was very tedious work. The results of the interview are as follows.
Basic Statistics
We interviewed a total of 60 people, with 30 of which were males and the other 30 being females. We then further grouped them into their age groups, which are as follows, "Young", "Middle Age", and the "Old" category. The "Young" category includes any youths from the age of 18 to 26. The "Middle Age" category consisting people from the age of 27 to 49. And lastly, the "Old" category comprising of the older generation above the age of 50.

Initial awareness on GMO
The following picture below shows the percentage of people who knew what the term GMO stood for and a brief understanding of what it is. Overall, 77% of the interviewees were not aware of the term GMO, with 65% of the males and 90% of the females not having even a brief understanding of GMO.

Interest in GMO
The following picture shows the percentage of people who wanted to know more about GMO. Overall, 72% yes when asked whether they wanted to know more, with 67% of the males and 77% of the females agreeing to listen to some brief information brought to them by us, the interviewers.

Awareness of GMO products on supermarket shelves
The following picture shows the percentage of people who knew that GMO products were sold commonly in supermarkets. Overall, 82% were not aware that GMO products were common in the marketplace, with 80% of the males and 84% of the females being new to this fact of GMO products being sold in supermarkets.

Willingness to eat GMO( if given the option)
The following picture shows the percentage of people how frequent they would consume GMO products if they were to be given a choice. Overall, 59% replied that they would never eat GMO, 13% replied they would have it daily and the remaining 28% giving other choices. For the males, 57% would never consume GMO produce, 13% consuming it daily and remaining 30% giving other options. For the females, 60% would never consume GMO produce, 13% consuming it daily and remaining 27% giving other options.

Rating of GMO
The following picture shows the ratings of GMO produce the interviewees gave based on its reliability and health related issues. Overall, the interviewees gave an average rating of 4.15 out of 10. For the males, they gave an average rating of 4 out of 10 and for the females, they gave an average rating of 4.3 out of 10.

Home Page.

Welcome to S205 Group A Research E-Journal. Our Group member consists of Minh Tri, Ethan, WaiYan and Ian.

Bibliography

1. Lesly, H. (2011, June 18). Factors determining the public understanding of GM technologies. AGBiotechNet. Retrieved from http://www.ctu.edu.vn/~dvxe/doc/Factors%20determining%20%20understandingGMO.pdf
2. Alicia, B. (2011, June 18). What countries have banned GMO crops?. The Examiner. Retrieved from http://www.examiner.com/article/what-countries-have-banned-gmo-crops
3. Anthony, G. (2011, November 27). GMO crops continually banned around the world in display of health freedom. Natural Society. Retrieved from http://naturalsociety.com/gmo-crops-continually-banned-around-world-health-freedom/
4. M, Jones. (2012, September 30). Biology of Food in Singapore. SGGreenDrinks. Retrieved from http://sggreendrinks.wordpress.com/2012/09/30/the-biology-of-food-in-singapore/
5. Deborah B. Whitman (2000, April) Genetically Modified Foods: Harmful or Helpful?. Retrieved from http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/gmfood/overview.php
6. World Watch Institute (n.d.) Genetically Modified Crops Reach 9 Percent of Global Primary Crop Production. Retrieved from http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5951
7. World Watch Institute (n.d.) Genetically Modified Crops Only a Fraction of Global Primary Crop Production. Retrieved from http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5951

Acknowledgements

This research was carried out as our IRS Project we embarked on from Secondary 1 2012. We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to the following people for their contribution with this project, without which this project would not have been carried out.
We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to our mentors, Mr Ng Guo Hui(2012) and Mr Tan Wei(2013), for their expert mentoring. They certainly are great teachers and it undeniably has been a very meaningful journey with them. Our research might not even be made possible if not for their honest and wise suggestions.
In addition, we would like to also thank the interviewees who took part in our surveys. They were able to spare us some of their time even with their busy schedule and share how their true opinions towards GMO products, ultimately being a part of the people's voice.
Lastly, we would like to thank the contributors of external sources who provided us indirectly with useful information which allowed us to work on our work with a trusty source to depend on.

Cover Page

Do Singaporeans know what GMO is and if so, what is their opinions/ attitudes towards it?

S2-05 Group A (Alpha)

School of Science and Technology, Singapore

Abstract:

Singapore, a country with no natural resources, food products from other countries. When we are shipping over these products, are they really just food ?

Genetically Modified Organisms(GMOs) are organisms with genes of other organisms added into them. This adding of genes improves and add traits to an organism which will definitely allow them to do some things they weren't able to do in their natural state. And this ultimately benefits us when these organisms end up as food in our plates. However, nothing is free in the world and everything has their own flaws. GMO products might have side effects such as cancer and shorter life span. According to World Watch Institute, it have shown that 9 percent of crops are GMO and this means that 9 percent of what goes into our mouths are GMO, so we wanted to ask this question to Singaporeans, For or against GMO?

Minutes Week 10

Survey Script:

Hi sir/madam, we are from the School of Science and Technology, and we are doing this survey as part of our school research project. Can you spare us 3 minutes of your time?

Sir, do you know what the term GMO stands for?

*If yes, continue to further survey questions. --> (2)

*If no, would you like to know more to answer our questions? 

**If yes, say:

Erm. GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organisms. Simply, it is a a product of combining genes from different organisms to improve or add traits into an organism. For example, a rice gene is combined with a fish gene to give rice proteins and make the rice plant immune to rain, floods. GMO is very common in the present day. However, this common technology has its advantages and disadvantages.  Some people have suffered big illness from GMO and studies have shown GMO can cause tumor growth (cancer).  --> (1)

1) First of all, now that you know GMO and its advantages and disadvantages, I would like to know how often you would feed you or your children. Daily? Every once a week? Twice a a week? Or never?

2) Are you aware that GMO is very common in supermarkets like __________?

3) Would you like the GMO Products to be labelled?

4) If you were to describe GMO in 1 word, what would it be? Reliable? Unhealthy? Risky?

5) If you were to rate how reliable GMO is in overall, health, efficiency, all those on a scale of 1-10. What would it be?

Thank you for your time. If possible, please leave your contact number or email here, so that we are able to contact you anytime if we have any queries.

Minutes Week 9

Minutes Week 9

Old

-Do you know what GMO stands for and its definitions?

  ~Would you like to know more about GMO( so that you are able to answer the following questions)?

-Do you accept GMO products? Why?

-Do you think GMO products are safe for human consumption personally, setting aside the current information we have on GMO products?

-Do you check for labels for products whether they are genetically modified or not?

 ~Do you think it is important for companies to indicate whether it is a GMO product or not?

-Finishing up the survey, how often do you think you consume such GMO products?


Percentile.

Old Age (50+)

• 20 Male
• 20 Female

Middle Age (27-49)

• 20 Male
• 20 Female

Youth (18-26)

• 20 Males
• 20 Females

*All interviewees must be Singaporeans

Old

-Do you know what GMO stands for and its definitions?

  ~Would you like to know more about GMO( so that you are able to answer the following questions)?

-Do you accept GMO products? Why?

-Do you think GMO products are safe for human consumption personally, setting aside the current information we have on GMO products?

-Do you check for labels for products whether they are genetically modified or not?

 ~Do you think it is important for companies to indicate whether it is a GMO product or not?

-Finishing up the survey, how often do you think you consume such GMO products?

What do we want to know?
Do people care what GMO is about?(Mind eating GMO)
How often do they consume GMO?
Do they accept GMO?
Do you think labeling GMO food is vital?

New

1)Do you know what GMO is? (Yes/No)

*If no, would you like to know more? (Briefly explain first)

2)Would you feed your children GMO products daily?
Why?
a) You don't trust GMO.
b) You don't think GMO is safe for consumption.
c) Others.

3)How often do you think you should consume GMO products?

a) Everyday

b) Once a week

c) Never

d) Unsure

*If unsure state reason.

4) Do you know what type of food you are buying/eating?(Yes/No)

5) When you are shopping, do you ever check whether the product is GMO?

*If they mind eating GMO
6) Would you prefer having ALL GMO products labeled? (Yes/No)


7)If you were to describe GMO with 1 word, what would it be?
a) Disgusting?
b) Unhealthy?
c) Trustworthy?
d) Others.

8) If you were to rate how trustworthy GMO products from a scale of 1-10, what would it be?
___

To be added.