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This research examined consumers' barriers to adoption of sustainable residential lighting alternatives and explored the impact of infield education on attitudes towards three lighting alternatives: incandescent, compact fluorescent light and light‐emitting diode. The study measured the effectiveness of hands‐on activities and an interactive educational presentation regarding sustainable residential lighting sources. Research objectives included the following: (1) to examine the changes in consumers' intentions to purchase sustainable lighting alternatives before and after residential field tests and educational sessions and (2) to examine consumers' attitudes towards sustainable lighting alternatives. Consumers' attitudes were investigated in relation to their willingness to buy sustainable lighting alternatives. A pre‐test survey was administered to examine the respondents' knowledge of sustainable lighting, their level of satisfaction with their existing home lighting choices and their willingness to consider sustainable lighting alternatives. Participants (n = 105) then performed reading and writing tasks under the three lighting types. Next, the participants were exposed to interactive education sessions explaining the benefits and detriments of the lighting alternatives. The educational area displayed fact sheets, sample bulb packaging and actual lighting fixtures lamped with sustainable and unsustainable sources. The educational presenter encouraged participants to ask questions about sustainable lighting and suggested ways that consumers can reduce their carbon footprint by choosing more efficient technologies for residential lighting. Participants were informed about the initial costs, return on investment, lamp life and lamp waste. The presenter directed the consumers how to properly dispose of bulbs. The findings revealed an increased understanding of the energy efficiency, sustainability and associated costs of the three lighting types. Consumers indicated preferences towards adopting the initially higher priced sustainable lighting particularly compact fluorescent lighting.

SUMMARYUniversity researchers conduct large numbers of case studies in the field of consumer studies each year and many are published in the research journals. Although illuminative and rich in description, qualitative data collected in case studies are singular and often lack generalizability. There is a need for comprehensive studies that subsume individual case studies related to consumer sciences in nutrition, apparel and clothing, consumer consumption, housing, and family studies.The purpose of this paper is to present a step-by-step methodological procedure for a qualitative meta-analysis, using components of Straus and Corbin's (1990) grounded theory data coding technique. This research provides a systematic and rigorous research technique procedure for deriving hypothetical statements from multiple case studies in the consumer studies discipline as well as other academic disciplines. This method offers a way to overcome the limitation of individual, data-burdensome case studies bounded by context. It extracts conceptual trends across individual case study and eliminates these contextual boundaries. It fills a void in research techniques, by combining existing qualitative case study methods, grounded theory coding techniques, and meta-analysis to create generalizable hypotheses, grounded in the data. This methodology can provide testable hypotheses which contribute to the larger picture of an overall theory in the consumer studies or another academic field.

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"Nearly 100% of all household textiles and apparel can be recycled" was the thesis for a recycling education program for Extension professionals attending a state meeting. Positive encouragement resulted in six additional presentations and pre-test/post-tests. One group received a follow-up survey after 3 1/2 months. After the educational sessions, awareness and perceived importance increased, and donating unwanted clothing to churches or charities became the preferred option, while discarding in the trash became the least desirable option. Extension professionals can engage consumers in a unique area of waste management. The resulting Extension fact sheet lends curriculum support.