Projects / Programmes
Using questionnaires to measure attitudes and behaviours of buildings users
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 5.03.00 |
Social sciences |
Sociology |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| S210 |
Social sciences |
Sociology |
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| 5.04 |
Social Sciences |
Sociology |
survey methods, questionnaire evaluation methods, sociology of architecture, building use studies, sustainable construction
Researchers (1)
| no. |
Code |
Name and surname |
Research area |
Role |
Period |
No. of publicationsNo. of publications |
| 1. |
33521 |
PhD Ana Slavec |
Interdisciplinary research |
Head |
2019 - 2023 |
230 |
Organisations (1)
Abstract
The project will study the use of survey questionnaires to collect data on the attitudes and behaviours of users of buildings, particularly those behaviours related to sustainability issues and energy consumption. Survey questionnaires are the prevailing data collection method to measure user satisfaction with buildings, however, the validity and reliability of current instruments is not known. Designing survey questionnaires is a complex task and specific knowledge is needed to write effective and understandable survey questions to assure a high level of statistical quality of the collected data.
The research objective is to identify the existing measurement instruments used by architects and building researchers to collect and understand the needs of buildings' users in the design process and in post-occupancy evaluations, assess the validity and comprehensibility of existing instruments then design and assess improved survey questionnaires. In the first phase, the project includes a literature review of relevant works that use surveys or other social science research methods to study building users, a collection of examples of survey questions, and focus groups with architects and building researchers. In the second phase, survey questions will be selected for evaluation with quantitative and qualitative questionnaire pre-testing methods. That will include using the Survey Quality Predictor tool, the text corpora approach, and cognitive interviews. Based on the analysis of results, an improved survey questionnaire will be developed. In the third phase, the improved instrument will be applied to two case studies and further assessments of the validity will be made based on respondent debriefing.
Project management and dissemination activities will be carried out throughout the entire duration of the project to monitor work performance, assure quality, mitigate risks, manage data, and communicate the project results to other researchers, stakeholders, and the general public. Collected data and methods will be openly shared in line with FAIR principles and scientific publications will be written and new scientific ideas will be developed based on the results. A workshop for researchers and practitioners will be organised to disseminate project results.
Solutions for the building sector will be developed based on the project results in the form of guidelines on how to more validly measure building occupant's behaviour. With improvements in the validity and reliability of the measurement, researchers and practitioners in the field will be able to collect more accurate data to inform building design, energy performance planning, energy use models, and energy sustainability rating systems. The gap between predicted and actual energy consumption in buildings will be decreased, resulting in improved environmental impacts of buildings. In addition, advanced research methods will open new research directions in the sociology of architecture and related fields and the comparison of different evaluation methods will advance research into questionnaire pre-testing.
Significance for science
The environmental impact of the building sector is immense, and due to human behaviour, the predicted energy consumption is often lower than the actual consumption. More accurate data on user behaviour and attitudes can help resolve this discrepancy and contribute to the advancement of knowledge in the sociological study of the build environment. The project will achieve that by making improvements to existing survey questionnaires which will enable building researchers and architects to improve the quality of data they collect. This will lead to better data on occupant behaviour and thus more evidence-based building design, to improved energy performance planning, improved energy use models, and improved sustainability rating systems. In addition, by collecting data on questionnaires and the comparison of different questionnaire evaluation methods, the project will produce original results in the field of social science methodology and contribute to further development in the study of survey methods.
To ensure the high impact of this project, the project leader will present the results at scientific conferences and publish in open access scientific journals. Research outputs, including methodologies, programming code, and data, will be prepared and published in open access repositories in accordance with FAIR principles so that it will be findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable for other researchers in sociology and other fields. The research outputs will be promoted on the research institute’s website and social media to increase their reach.
Significance for the country
The environmental impact of the building sector is immense, and due to human behaviour, the predicted energy consumption is often lower than the actual consumption. More accurate data on user behaviour and attitudes can help resolve this discrepancy and contribute to the advancement of knowledge in the sociological study of the build environment. The project will achieve that by making improvements to existing survey questionnaires which will enable building researchers and architects to improve the quality of data they collect. This will lead to better data on occupant behaviour and thus more evidence-based building design, to improved energy performance planning, improved energy use models, and improved sustainability rating systems. In addition, by collecting data on questionnaires and the comparison of different questionnaire evaluation methods, the project will produce original results in the field of social science methodology and contribute to further development in the study of survey methods.
To ensure the high impact of this project, the project leader will present the results at scientific conferences and publish in open access scientific journals. Research outputs, including methodologies, programming code, and data, will be prepared and published in open access repositories in accordance with FAIR principles so that it will be findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable for other researchers in sociology and other fields. The research outputs will be promoted on the research institute’s website and social media to increase their reach.
