Evaluating assumptions of scales for subjective assessment of thermal environments – Do laypersons perceive them the way, we researchers believe?
Journal article, 2020
People's subjective response to any thermal environment is commonly investigated by using rating scales describing the degree of thermal sensation, comfort, and acceptability. Subsequent analyses of results collected in this way rely on the assumption that specific distances between verbal anchors placed on the scale exist and that relationships between verbal anchors from different dimensions that are assessed (e.g. thermal sensation and comfort) do not change. Another inherent assumption is that such scales are independent of the context in which they are used (climate zone, season, etc.). Despite their use worldwide, there is indication that contextual differences influence the way the scales are perceived and therefore question the reliability of the scales’ interpretation. To address this issue, a large international collaborative questionnaire study was conducted in 26 countries, using 21 different languages, which led to a dataset of 8225 questionnaires. Results, analysed by means of robust statistical techniques, revealed that only a subset of the responses are in accordance with the mentioned assumptions. Significant differences appeared between groups of participants in their perception of the scales, both in relation to distances of the anchors and relationships between scales. It was also found that respondents’ interpretations of scales changed with contextual factors, such as climate, season, and language. These findings highlight the need to carefully consider context-dependent factors in interpreting and reporting results from thermal comfort studies or post-occupancy evaluations, as well as to revisit the use of rating scales and the analysis methods used in thermal comfort studies to improve their reliability.
Diversity
Thermal sensation
Climatic zone
Scales
Field study
Language
Season
Post-Occupancy-Evaluation
Adaptation
Thermal comfort
Thermal acceptance
Author
Marcel Schweiker
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften
Maíra André
Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina
Farah Al-Atrash
German Jordanian University
Hanan Al-Khatri
Sultan Qaboos University
Rea Risky Alprianti
Institut Teknologi Bandung
Hayder Alsaad
Bauhaus-Universität Weimar
Rucha Amin
University of Southampton
Eleni Ampatzi
Cardiff University
Alpha Yacob Arsano
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Elie Azar
Khalifa University
Bahareh Bannazadeh
University of Tehran
Amina Batagarawa
Ahmadu Bello University
Susanne Becker
Mannheim university hospital
Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften
Carolina Buonocore
Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina
Bin Cao
Tsinghua University
Joon Ho Choi
University of Southern California
Chungyoon Chun
Yonsei University
Hein Daanen
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Siti Aisyah Damiati
Institut Teknologi Bandung
Lyrian Daniel
University of Adelaide
Renata De Vecchi
Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina
Shivraj Dhaka
Indian Green Building Council (IGBC)
Samuel Domínguez-Amarillo
University of Seville
Edyta Dudkiewicz
Wrocław University of Science and Technology
Lakshmi Prabha Edappilly
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
Indian Institute of Technology
Jesica Fernández-Agüera
University of Seville
Mireille Folkerts
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Arjan Frijns
Eindhoven University of Technology
Gabriel Gaona
University of Cuenca
Vishal Garg
International Institute of Information Technology
Stephanie Gauthier
University of Southampton
Shahla Ghaffari Jabbari
Tabriz Islamic Art University
Djamila Harimi
Universiti Malaysia Sabah
Runa T. Hellwig
Aalborg University
Fachhochschule Augsburg
Gesche M. Huebner
University College London (UCL)
Quan Jin
Chalmers, Architecture and Civil Engineering, Building Technology
Mina Jowkar
Coventry University
Jungsoo Kim
The University of Sydney
Nelson King
Khalifa University
Boris Kingma
Training and Performance Optimization
University of Copenhagen
M. Donny Koerniawan
Institut Teknologi Bandung
Jakub Kolarik
Technical University of Denmark (DTU)
Shailendra Kumar
Malaviya National Institute of Technology Jaipur
Alison Kwok
University of Oregon
Roberto Lamberts
Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina
Marta Laska
Wrocław University of Science and Technology
M. C.Jeffrey Lee
National Taichung University of Science and Technology
Yoonhee Lee
Yonsei University
Vanessa Lindermayr
Fachhochschule Augsburg
Mohammadbagher Mahaki
Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman
Udochukwu Marcel-Okafor
Federal Polytechnic
Laura Marín-Restrepo
Universidad del Bio-Bio
Anna Marquardsen
University of Koblenz and Landau
Francesco Martellotta
Polytechnic University of Bari
Jyotirmay Mathur
Malaviya National Institute of Technology Jaipur
Isabel Mino-Rodriguez
University College London (UCL)
Azadeh Montazami
Coventry University
Di Mou
Tsinghua University
Bassam Moujalled
Centre d'Etudes et d'Expertise sur les Risques, l'Environnement, la Mobilité et l'Aménagement
Mia Nakajima
University of California
Edward Ng
Chinese University of Hong Kong
Marcellinus Okafor
Imo State University
Mark Olweny
Uganda Martyrs University
Wanlu Ouyang
Chinese University of Hong Kong
Ana Ligia Papst de Abreu
Federal Institute of Santa Catarina
Alexis Pérez-Fargallo
Universidad del Bio-Bio
Indrika Rajapaksha
University of Moratuwa
Greici Ramos
Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina
Saif Rashid
Technische Universität Kaiserslautern
Christoph F. Reinhart
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Ma Isabel Rivera
University of Oregon
University of Concepcion
Mazyar Salmanzadeh
Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman
Karin Schakib-Ekbatan
Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften
Stefano Schiavon
University of California
Salman Shooshtarian
RMIT University
Masanori Shukuya
Tokyo City University
Veronica Soebarto
University of California
University of Adelaide
Suhendri Suhendri
Institut Teknologi Bandung
Mohammad Tahsildoost
Shahid Beheshti University
Federico Tartarini
University of Wollongong
Despoina Teli
University of Southampton
Chalmers, Architecture and Civil Engineering, Building Services Engineering
Priyam Tewari
Malaviya National Institute of Technology Jaipur
Samar Thapa
Poornima University
Salesian College
Maureen Trebilcock
Universidad del Bio-Bio
Jörg Trojan
Akademie für angewandte Bewegungswissenschaften gGmbH
Ruqayyatu B. Tukur
Ahmadu Bello University
Conrad Voelker
Bauhaus-Universität Weimar
Yeung Yam
Chinese University of Hong Kong
Liu Yang
Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology
Gabriela Zapata-Lancaster
Cardiff University
Yongchao Zhai
Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology
Yingxin Zhu
Tsinghua University
Zahra Sadat Zomorodian
Shahid Beheshti University
Energy and Buildings
0378-7788 (ISSN)
Vol. 211 109761Subject Categories
Other Medical Sciences not elsewhere specified
Civil Engineering
Applied Psychology
DOI
10.1016/j.enbuild.2020.109761