Analysis of the effects of genetically modified organisms on consumers in Tokat province of Turkey

Author: Halil Kizilaslan and Nuray Kizilaslan ^*

Received 30 October 2007, accepted 17 December 2007.

Abstract

In this study, the effects of genetically modified organisms (GMO) on Turkish society was investigated. For this purpose, the thoughts of families living in Tokat province were considered. The purpose of this study was to determine the structure and quantity of the factors which affect the people’s view and knowledge on genetically modified organisms. The data, utilized in this research, were obtained from the results of the questionnaire which was conducted in the Tokat city centre with 319 family members in the year 2006. The 28 questions in the questionnaire were scaled in the Likert scale over 5. Then the factor analysis technique was utilized to the responses. In the first part of the factor analysis, the 12 factors have been determined with the eigen values greater than or equal to 1. These factors were then named according to their factoral weight. The results of the study indicated that people have rather negative opinions about GMOs. These results, which arose as a result of the factor analysis, will enable consumers to become more sensitive and conscious regarding the genetically modified organisms in the long run.

Key words: Genetically modified organisms (GMO), social effects, factor analysis, Tokat, Turkey.