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CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGYFor this piece of research large amounts of the data has been generated through the
collection of qualitative data. As noted by Hancock et al (2003) the majority of work
that has been conducted surrounding the effects of heat stress on cognitive
performance has been conducted in laboratory settings. This creates an artificial
environment, one which is not true to real life experiences. Therefore for this reason
the way in which this research will collect its results will be through questionnaires as
identified by Hay (2010) qualitative research seeks to understand the ways people
experience processes, in this case thermal comfort and performance.
3.1 QuestionnaireA questionnaire was used in the collection of data for this research. Questionnaires
are appropriate when gathering original data surrounding people, their behaviour,
experiences, attitudes and opinions (Hay, 2010). It is the opinions of the users of the
buildings on Penryn Campus that will form the primary data of the research.
The questionnaire was created following the guidelines set out by Judith Bell (2010)
which included making sure that there was no ambiguity and imprecision. This
means making sure to watch out for assumptions which could lead to confusion for
the person carrying out the questionnaire, this can be especially apparent in the
wording of the questions. Words which have a common meaning to you may mean
something different to other people, so you need to consider what your questions
might mean to different respondents (Bell, 2010). It is also important not to ask
double questions as this can be confusing as well.
Statements/questions will have to make sure that they are not leading, it is not
always clear to spot a leading question/statement but the use of emotive language or
the way a question is put can lead respondents to answer questions in a certain way.
As well as leading questions there is also the problem of presuming questions which
can become a source of error in a questionnaire, through the misleading of the
respondent, to gain the best data it is important not to this (Bell, 2010).
Appearance and layout of the questionnaire is important to the results, the impact of
the questionnaire will be lost if it looks untidy. For this reason the questionnaire for
this research project will be presented on two pages, all in the same font style and
size. (See appendix for a copy of the questionnaire).
3.2 Likert ScaleThe layout of the questionnaire will follow that of a Likert Scale. Originally devised by
R Likert in 1932, the scale is used to discover strength of feeling or attitude towards
a given statement in this case thermal comfort and performance. Respondents are
asked to provide a rating on an ordinal scale that represents a wide range of
possible responses (Clifford et al, 2003). A question is made to which the person
carrying out the questionnaire gives an implication to strength of agreement they feel
towards to the given question. Responses are anchored by two extreme opposing
positions.
Even though the answering of the questions is done by using a ranking system it
does however not mean that the highest rating is five times higher than the lowest
ranking, it is instead giving an indication. The scales are usually on a three, five or
seven point range, for this questionnaire the point range will be set at 5 for all
questions. The number of possible responses is often best to be an odd number, as
this gives a middle value which in turn represents a neutral opinion (Clifford et al,
2003). It is important to offer a neutral opinion as respondents may feel there is no
clear feeling towards one answer or another (Clifford et al, 2003). Something to note
about the range is that the intervals between each may not be the same (Bell, 2010).
In spite of these limitations, Likert scales can be useful, as long as the wording is
clear, there are no double questions and no unjustified claims are made about the
findings (Figure shows an example of a Likert scale from my questionnaire).
3.3 Alongside the QuestionnaireAt the same of asking the respondents to take the questionnaire certain
measurements and notes will be taken by the researcher to help in the analysis of
the data. These measurements will help explain any anomalies in the result and
might explain why certain results were produced. These measurements include
temperature of room, amount of people in it, length of time in room, time of day and
conditions outside.
The recording of the time and day of when the questionnaire was carried out will be
taken to see whether or not this has affected the results, especially when it comes to
asking the respondent about alertness. For example first thing in the morning may
mean people are tired and therefore concentration levels are low.
The temperature of the room will be obtained through the TREND building
management system used on campus. The measurements produced by TREND are
from devises that are located in most of the rooms on campus. The temperature
device records the temperature of the room every 15 minutes. This is to help
regulate the room temperature and allows any changes in temperature to be made
by the air conditioning and heating systems. The optimum temperature of the rooms
has been set at 21°c, in line with the campus policy (reference). For example if the
room goes above 21°c the TREND system will note this and turn on the cooling
system for that room. Figure … shows the homepage of the TREND system, which
is a diagram of the whole campus and the temperatures outside of each building.
Figure … shows the TREND system for particular building, in this case the seminar
and lecture rooms of the Peter Lanyon building.
Information to determine the weather
outside will be gained from the Met office
to avoid bias. Weather outside
information is needed to explain why
certain people may feel certain
sensations, for example if it is cold when
a person goes inside they will
automatically feel warmer.
3.4 Site LocationThe chosen location for this study is
Tremough Campus in Penryn, Cornwall.
Tremough Campus is a University
Campus located in the South West of the UK, not far from the Cornish town of
Falmouth. The campus was built in 2005 under the Combined Universities in
Cornwall (CUC) partnership, bringing together the University of Exeter and Falmouth
University. Run and managed by Falmouth Exeter Plus who deliver shared services
on campus on behalf of the Universities. Tremough is home to Cornwall’s biggest
student community (FXPLUS website).
All the buildings on the Tremough Campus have various BRE standard ratings. The
Peter Lanyon Building has a “Very Good” rating, while the new Environment and
Sustainability Institute (ESI) Building has the highest rating “Outstanding.” Currently
there are only 7 complete buildings with outstanding status and the ESI is the first in
the South West.
The department for innovation, universities and skills grant letter to HEFCE for 2009-
10 required the higher education (HE) sector in England to implement a carbon
reduction target of at least 80% by 2050 against 1990 levels. As the campus has
only been around since 2005, targets are changed to meet the baseline level of
2005/06 academic year. Since 2005/06 carbon reductions per Full Time Education
(FTE) student has been reduced by 53% in 2010/11.
3.5 Buildings Being UsedThe buildings used for this study is the Peter Lanyon, the rooms that will be tested
are the lecture and seminar rooms. The reason for choosing this building is because
it is one of the most used buildings on campus for teaching.
3.6 Pilot StudyA pilot study was conducted as it allows any defects to be corrected before the final
printing and distribution. Deflects that can be identified include problems with
ambiguity and understanding (Flowerdew et al, 2005). A pilot study was conducted
to test the quality and time taken for the questionnaire. For the pilot, was carried out
in the same format as that of the real thing. Responses were collected by ten users
of the Peter Lanyon building, along with the collection of additional data
(Temperature, Time, Date, and Weather Conditions). The responses were included
with the final data collection.
One change that was considered within the questionnaire was to question 9 and 10.
The wording of question 9 and 10 was somewhat ambiguous as it does not specify
the type of discomfort the users feel e.g. thermal discomfort. This has left space for
respondents to include a wide range of problems including not feeling safe in the
campus shop due to the age of the building. As a result, it was decided to leave the
wording of the question, as the option of uncovering a variety of responses will help
in the analysis of the data collected.
Data Analysis
Analysis of the questionnaire will require quantitative methods due to the nature of
the research. Descriptive statistics will be used first to analysis the data. This will
identify any patterns in the data and will form the primary analysis of the data.
As the temperature of the various rooms increases so does the Likert scale average
score. A Likert scale average score is worked out by giving each option in the
questionnaire a value, which is then multiplied by the number of respondents for a
particular question. This total number is then divided by the number of respondents
to give an average between 1 and 5.
A score of 3 represents a comfortable level of temperature while a score of 1
indicates a feeling of being too cold and a score of 5 indicates a feeling of being too
hot for question 1 and 2 (see table 4.1).
5 4 3 2 1Too Hot A Little too Warm Comfortable A Little Cold Too Cold