Week 0: Introduction to the project

Welcome to the first blog post for my project. This project is about measuring the correlation between light pollution and sleep quality. I am interested in pursuing this project because sleep is important for several reasons and functions. Sufficient sleep is required for a healthy life. During sleep, our brain and body undergo processes vital to recovery and general health. It is therefore important to sleep sufficiently in order to function healthily and productively throughout the day. However, several factors play a role in the quality of our sleep. Sleep quality can be disturbed by several factors, such as background noise, food consumed, etc. However, in this project, I will be looking into how light pollution in an environment can potentially be another significant factor in someone’s sleep quality. 

Light pollution, or the excessive presence of artificial light in the night sky, can hinder sleep quality. Over recent years, the growth of ALAN (Artificial Light At Night) has been increasing at a rate of about 9.6% globally each year. Many of the factors contributing to overall light pollution can be traced to urban sky glow, which is brightness in the night sky over inhabited areas due to light trespass, glare, and confusing/excessive clutter of light sources. By analyzing the presence of ALAN in both urban and remote regions and the causes of ALAN in specific regions, I wish to discover how people’s sleep varies depending on the amount of light pollution present in their region. This project will ultimately answer the following question: how significant of a factor does light pollution play in sleep quality?

Light pollution is prevalent in the region which I live in due to the highly industrial nature of this area, and I am therefore interested in analyzing the relationship between this light pollution and the sleep quality of the region’s inhabitants. A related course I have previously taken was AP U.S. Government and Politics. AP U.S. Government and Politics prepared me with understanding of sampling and data gathering. I also have research experience from a current research project related to cosmology that I am conducting with ASDRP (Aspiring Scholars Directed Research Program). Although I do not currently have significant experience in matters concerning sleep quality and factors affecting it, I will also be studying this in order to excel in the project. 

Growing up in the highly populated and industrial Bay Area, I have been exposed to lots of artificial light and find great value in analyzing how the light pollution in this region is affecting the sleep quality of the Bay Area’s inhabitants. People who live in areas like Silicon Valley that have more prevalent light pollution may undergo less sleep quality. It is important to address this because light pollution could potentially be a significant factor in our sleep. However, the purpose of this project is to understand how much light pollution affects our sleep and overall health, and in turn our society. 

This research will draw more attention to the issue of light pollution in our society. By drawing attention to this consequence, there will be more awareness and steps to reduce light pollution to better the health of our society’s inhabitants. The reduction of light pollution not only benefits the sleep and health of individuals, but also would reflect positively on the economy due to increased productivity and reduced energy wastage. Thank you for reading my first blog post, and stay tuned for future updates. 

Here is a weekly schedule for my project:

Week 1: Read sources necessary for gaining background information and context. 

Week 2: Finish the goals of Week 1. 

Week 3: Set up surveys and send them out to the subjects.

Week 4: Begin collecting data from the survey responses and analyzing them.

Week 5: Continue the goals of Week 4.

Week 6: Conduct an in-depth analysis which accounts for the regions’ levels of light pollution.

Week 7: Continue the goals of Week 6.

Week 8: Begin final analysis and develop conclusions. Begin writing the outline of the paper.

Week 9: Finalize conclusions. Begin writing the paper.

Week 10: Analyze the conclusions, and include the analysis in the paper. 

Week 11: Double check all the sources. 

Week 12: Finalize the paper and review it.