Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 18.3
Sample sizes and attitudinal scales used in several waterscape perception studies.
Scenes (nb)
Respondents (nb)
Scales
Variables
References
25
120 university students
7-point scale
Preference and 5 descriptor
variables (vividness,
harmony, fascinaty,
naturalness, being
interesting)
Bulut et al., 2010
30
176 residents and 44
professional planners
5-point scale
Preference
Kenwick et al., 2009
8
1005 Swiss participants
7-point scale
Appeal, naturalness and
satisfaction of needs
Junker and Buchecker, 2008
20
2200 students
Visual analog scale
Aesthetics, naturalness,
dangerousness, and need
for improvement
Piegay et al., 2005 ; Le Lay
et al., 2008
47
118 undergraduates
10-point scale
Scenic beauty
Meitner, 2004
5
30 residents
7-point scale
Preference, calming, and
excitement
Nasar and Lin, 2003
16
120 rural property owners
5-point scale
Preference
Ryan, 1998
16
105 members of an
University community
7-point scale
Preference
Wilson et al., 1995
20
199 students
10-point scale
Attractiveness
Gregory and Davis, 1993
190
409 participants
10-point scale
Scenic beauty
Mosley, 1989
70
259 introductory psychology
students
5-point scale
Spaciousness, texture,
coherence, complexity,
mystery, identifiability
and preference
Herzog, 1985
60
98 college students
5-point scale
Legibility, coherence,
complexity and mystery
Ellsworth, 1982
240
12 student judges
Semantic scale
Complexity, unity, beauty,
and pleasantness.
Ulrich, 1981
Dominance, wakefulness,
attention/interest, and
stability (affect)
60
54 subjects
20
100 landscape architecture
students
5-point scale
Legibility, spatial definition,
complexity, and mystery
Lee, 1979
7-point scale
Preference
48
400 visitors
5-point scale
Preference
Hammitt, 1978
rate each photograph based on these differential semantic
measurements. The so-called 5-point Likert scale seems
the most conventional. Often, the mean score is calculated
to evaluate, for instance, the preference for each scene, and
to determine which landscapes tend to be preferred. The
interpretation of the scale, however, remains problematic.
Averages cannot be applied to categorical variables, thus
complicating the appreciation of groups of photographs
and the testing of hypotheses under relatively controlled
experimental conditions. With such variables, it is more
difficult to predict reactions to external parameters using
basic inferential tools.
A Visual Analog Scale (VAS) is a measure instrument
that was built for the diagnostic of pain. Respondents
indicate their level of agreement by marking a straight
line between the two end-points of the scale (Gift, 1989).
Although VAS is less conventional in landscape research,
it outperforms the other discrete scales. Each photograph
is individually evaluated on a continuous scale ranging
from 0 (lowest degree of agreement) to 10 (highest degree
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