Primary and secondary research into vegans

1. Research for Veganuary project

2. Primary research

3. Why vegans became vegans
• Summary: the person
who answered this
question said that
the reason they were
vegan is because of
care for animals.

4. What I can learn from this
• This answer gives me the knowledge that the
aspect of animal care is very important to
vegans and therefore I could use it as a central
theme during my project as this is what would
most likely draw the biggest audience.
However I will have to be careful as this
question was only answered by one person so
there was a small sample size.

5. Why are non vegans not vegan
• Summary: the vast
majority of people
that answered this
question said that
the reason they
didn’t go vegan was
due to restriction of
food

6. What I can learn from this
• With this knowledge that the main reason
people don’t go vegan is the restriction that it
causes them. This is useful as I could make
people aware of all of the vegan alternatives
that are available in my project and this may
change the minds of the largest number of
potential people.

7. What do people feel is the most
important aspect of being vegan
• Summary: From the
answers given I can
conclude that the
most popular aspect
of being vegan is the
positive impact it has
on animals.

8. What I can learn from this
• With this question I can use the information
that the most popular aspect of being vegan is
the impact on animals to try and attract more
people to the idea of being vegan. With it
being so popular I should really make it clear
how positively the animals are impacted in my
project and therefore a large number people
will be attracted to the idea of going vegan.

9. Where have people most commonly
heard about vegans
• Summary: From this
question I can learn
that the way that
most people found
out about vegans is
through the internet.

10. What I can learn from this
• With most people saying that they discovered
the movement online it means that the most
effective form of advertising of the movement
would be online as this is where most people
would tend to see it. This would mean that I
would be getting the message across to as
many people as I potentially could.

11. What is the most off putting thing
about being vegan
• Summary: the
majority of the
answers were to do
with the restriction
of foods like cheese
and meat

12. What I can learn from this
• From this information I can conclude that
advertising the alternatives to the foods that
people feel that they would miss out on would
be an effective way to draw people to try
becoming vegan as it would eliminate the fear
that they would not be able to enjoy their
favorite foods.

13. Would people be open to being vegan
for a shot period of time
• Summary: from the
answers given I can
conclude that the
vast majority of
people would be
open to being vegan
for a short time

14. What can I learn from this
• From this question I have learned that the
majority of people are open to being vegan if
it is only for a short while. This means that I
must emphasize the small amount of time
that veganuary takes place in and more
people may be open to it.

15. How long would people ideally want to
try vegan for.
• Summary: people
were most commonly
attracted to the idea
of being vegan for a
week rather than the
alternatives.

16. What I can learn from this
• I have learned that I may be able to attract
more people to become vegan if I give them
the option of only doing it for a week as this
idea seems to appeal to more people.

17. Validation of the research
• The respondents that I received for my
survey were all applicable for the
questions as they all fit within the target
audience and there was a mix of vegans
and non vegans to create a varied set of
opinions and mindsets. However the pool
of people that filled in the survey were
small so I was only able to get 10
respondents and if I was to redo this
primary research I would have an
increased number of respondents as I feel
the data would be more accurate if I let
more people answer so I could draw up
patterns that more reliably followed the
large target audience that I have for this
project.

18. Secondary research

19. How does being vegan affect your
cholesterol
Summary: The article showcases a study
in which it is conveys that vegans are
more likely to have a lower cholesterol
on average than non vegans.
Tags: Vegan, cholesterol, study,
February 2014
Link: :
https://veganuary.com/why/health/cholesterol
/

20. Quotes
• “it showed that the cholesterol levels in
vegans were the lowest of the four groups”
• “Evidence strongly indicates that high
cholesterol can increase the risk of narrowing
the arteries atherosclerosis, heart attacks and
stroke.” - NHS UK
• “differences in cholesterol to this degree
should lead to a significant reduction in the
risk of heart disease”

21. Validation of sources
• The source of this information is from the
official veganuary website which has been
assured to us as being accurate through
several checks to the information. For this
reason I am confident that the information is
accurate at least from the date that it was first
published.

22. How does being a vegan affect your
blood pressure
Summary: The article talks of how being
a vegan can reduce your blood pressure
which is evident in being good for
reducing the risk of disease. The article
uses studies and quotes to back up its
claims.
Tags: Blood pressure, high blood
pressure, heart disease, diet, study
Link:
https://veganuary.com/why/health/hi
gh-blood-pressure/

23. Quotes
• “consumption of vegetarian diets is associated
with lower blood pressure. Such diets could be
a useful non-pharmacological means for
reducing blood pressure”- JAMA Int Med 2014
• “Most vegetarian diets are low or devoid of
animal products. They’re also usually lower
than non vegetarian diets in total fat,
saturated fat and cholesterol”- American
Heart Association

24. Validation of sources
• The source of this information is from the
official veganuary website which has been
assured to us as being accurate through
several checks to the information. For this
reason I am confident that the information is
accurate at least from the date that it was first
published.

25. How can being vegan affect your
health
Summary: this is an article form the vegan
society talking about the health benefits of
being vegan as compared to having different
diets. It talks about several different factors of
health that being vegan affects such as BMI
and cholesterol.
Tags: Vegan, vegan society, health, diets, risk,
eating
Link: https://www.vegansociety.com/go-
vegan/health

26. Quotes
• “vegans are leaner, have lower BMIs and have
lower percentages of body fat”
• “vegans tend to eat seven or more pieces of
fruit or veg per day, meaning we have a 33%
reduced risk of premature death compared
with people who eat less than one portion”

27. Validation of sources
• The source of this article is the vegan society
website. They are a large organisation and
therefore will have a well funded research
department. This leads me to believe that the
information will be fairly accurate as they will
have the resources to find the information they
need. However this is a vegan website and tends
to use words like ‘we’ when describing vegans so
I cannot completely rule out any bias as this
website is clearly trying to convince people to
become vegan.

28. How does being vegan affect your
sporting capabilities
Summary: this article talks about how
you can still perform well as an athlete
without having a diet with meat and
dairy products in. it covers several
points about how you are able to do
this and provides links to other pages
on the site to reinforce its points.
Tags: sport, vegan, diet, athlete,
body, nutrients, food, fat, fiber
Link:http://www.onegreenplanet.org/natural-health/common-benefits-athletes-
experience-when-switching-to-a-vegan-diet/

29. Quotes
• “Because a plant based diet is low in
cholesterol and saturated fat, you can count
on maintaining great cardiovascular health
with ease”
• “leaving out the animal products also keeps
your veins nice and clean so you don’t have to
worry about cholesterol buildup or clogged
arteries”

30. Validation of sources
• The source of this article is a vegan website
called ‘one green planet’. I do not feel that this
source is fully credible in terms of information
as they have not backed up any of their claims
with research or links to other articles of any
kind. The language used within the article is
also very informal and it therefore makes me
question the credibility of the article as it
seems more of a selling point than a factual
post.

31. What are the effects of being vegan on
the atmosphere
• Summary: the article lists
the different ways that
consuming meant products
and having livestock
contributes to harmful
environmental effects in a
16 point list.
Tags: climate change, vegan, peta,
animals, impact, planet,
environment
Link:
http://www.peta.org.uk/blog/ho
w-going-vegan-helps-stop-
climate-change/

32. Quotes
• “animal agriculture causes an estimated 18%
of all greenhouse gasses”
• “Emissions for agriculture are projected to
increase 80% by 2050”
• “Livestock or livestock feed covers one third of
the earths ice free land”
• “Animal agriculture is responsible for up to
91% of the destruction of the amazon
rainforest.”

33. Validation of the source
• The source of the information is PETA which is a
very large organisation that is multinational. For
this reason I am inclined to trust the credibility of
the source. The writer of the article has also
provided links for where they got the information
from if you need to double check the validity of
the information. I feel this is important as this is a
blog section of the PETA website and therefore
the information may be slightly bias and giving
the option to check defiantly increases its
credibility.

34. Health benefits of being vegan
• Summary: the article lists
around 50 health
benefits for going vegan.
They are catagorised by
nutrition, disease
prevention, physical
benefits, other benefits.
Tags: Health, benefits, nutrition, diet,
disease, balanced, lifestyle
Link:
http://www.nursingdegree.net/blog/19/57-
health-benefits-of-going-vegan/

35. Quotes
• “a diet rich in grains is beneficial for your health in many
ways including lowering blood pressure”
• “Diets with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables can help to
prevent the onset of age related macular degeneration”
• “eliminating dairy consumption has long been connected
with alleviating arthritis symptoms”
• “Eating nuts and whole grains whilst eliminating dairy
products and meat will improve your cardiovascular health”
• “Several population studies show that a diet without meat
leads to lower BMIs usually an indicator of healthy weight
and lack of fat on the body.”

36. Validation of sources
• The source of this information is nursing
degree.net which is a large website that aims
to help educate future nurses. For this reason
I believe that the information is accurate as it
has been constructed for the purpose of
education and uses the sources that it has got
its information from to help back up its points.

37. Can you still be an athlete on a vegan
diet?
• Summary: the article gives
examples of vegan athletes
and gives information
about how they are on a
vegan diet and yet still keep
being able to perform at
high levels of sport.
Tags: athlete, vegan, training,
interview, tips, nutrition
Link:
https://www.vegansociety.com/reso
urces/nutrition-and-health/getting-
athletic

38. Quotes
• “For optimal athletic performance, high carbohydrate,
low fat, moderate protein diets are recommended. An
excess of animal protein, associated with various
chronic diseases, should be avoided” Dr Holloway
• “Eat healthy carbohydrates and up to a third of your
calories from healthy fats such as avocados, nut butters
or seeds as this will help maintain a healthy body
weight”
• “Endurance athletes need o watch their iron status.
Remember to eat fruit and vegetables rich in vitamin C
with your iron rich foods”

39. Validation of the source
• The source of this article is the vegan society
website. They are a large organisation and
therefore will have a well funded research
department. This leads me to believe that the
information will be fairly accurate as they will
have the resources to find the information they
need. However this is a vegan website and tends
to use words like ‘we’ when describing vegans so
I cannot completely rule out any bias as this
website is clearly trying to convince people to
become vegan.