Evaluating assumptions of scales for subjective assessment of thermal environments – Do laypersons perceive them the way, we researchers believe?
Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 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

Författare

Marcel Schweiker

Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (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

Universitätsklinikum Mannheim

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

Universidad de Sevilla

Edyta Dudkiewicz

Politechnika Wrocławska

Lakshmi Prabha Edappilly

Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT)

Indian Institute of Technology

Jesica Fernández-Agüera

Universidad de Sevilla

Mireille Folkerts

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Arjan Frijns

Technische Universiteit Eindhoven

Gabriel Gaona

Universidad de 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 Universitet

Fachhochschule Augsburg

Gesche M. Huebner

University College London (UCL)

Quan Jin

Chalmers, Arkitektur och samhällsbyggnadsteknik, Byggnadsteknologi

Mina Jowkar

Coventry University

Jungsoo Kim

The University of Sydney

Nelson King

Khalifa University

Boris Kingma

Training and Performance Optimization

Köpenhamns universitet

M. Donny Koerniawan

Institut Teknologi Bandung

Jakub Kolarik

Danmarks Tekniske Universitet (DTU)

Shailendra Kumar

Malaviya National Institute of Technology Jaipur

Alison Kwok

University of Oregon

Roberto Lamberts

Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina

Marta Laska

Politechnika Wrocławska

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

Universität Koblenz-Landau

Francesco Martellotta

Politecnico di 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

Universidad de Concepción

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, Arkitektur och samhällsbyggnadsteknik, Installationsteknik

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 109761

Ämneskategorier

Övrig annan medicin och hälsovetenskap

Samhällsbyggnadsteknik

Tillämpad psykologi

DOI

10.1016/j.enbuild.2020.109761

Mer information

Senast uppdaterat

2024-05-29