Besides the methods previously mentioned, we have also decided to use two methods within qualitative methods in order to gather and present our data. Those two methods are content analysis and theoretical sampling.
In chapter 1, the state, our data consists of many internet articles in the form of journals as well as online newspaper and magazine websites. Publications by the European Environmental Agency were used to put into perspective where the UK is currently at in relation to food waste versus where they committed to being at in the future. The purpose of many of the sources that were used in this chapter of our project was to show how the government (state) understands the concept of food waste. To get a deeper understanding of this, we are looking into how the concept was being understood both 100 years ago as well as today. Since the UK is a part of the European Union, we have used EU directives to illustrate where the UK needs to be, in terms of food waste, in the future. This chapter also uses the rubbish theory to show that the state is actively searching for ways to turn waste (rubbish) into something of value again by creating policies that encourage the prevention of waste and recycling, while penalising those who do not comply. We feel that the sources used for this chapter will help give the reader a clear picture on how the state understands food waste and what they are doing to rectify it if they see it as a problem. .
In chapter 2, the consumers, our data consists of mainly articles and statistics from food waste NGO's (also referred to as 'interests organisations' or 'activist organisations'). The articles from, amongst others, the BBC, have been used to show the large amount of knowledge about food waste that is being shown in the media throughout the last years. In order to show the large amount of knowledge the British citizens have been giving we use data collected from the many campaigns from interests organisations as well.