July 8 2004

OTB Research Institute for Housing, Urban and Mobility Studies

1

The meaning of preferences for features of a dwellingA study exploring several aspects of the conceptual framework

Vienna / 18th IAPS Conference

Henny Coolen

OTB Research Institute for Housing, Urban and Mobility Studies

July 8 2004 2The meaning of preferences for features of a dwelling

Background

• Part of a project about ‘The meaning of dwelling, housing choice, and housing preference’

• Subsidized by NWO Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research

• First phase: developing and testing conceptual and methodological framework (context of discovery)

• Second phase: follow-up research by means of a large scale survey (context of justification)

OTB Research Institute for Housing, Urban and Mobility Studies

July 8 2004 3The meaning of preferences for features of a dwelling

Conceptual framework

• Meaning of a dwelling: holistic vs. deconstructed approach

• Preference – Intention – Choice• Meaning: functional relationship between an

object and people’s goals and values• Three levels of meaning: higher-, middle- and

lower-level meanings• Mental representation about preferred dwelling

that can be represented as a network

OTB Research Institute for Housing, Urban and Mobility Studies

July 8 2004 4The meaning of preferences for features of a dwelling

Conceptual framework (cont.) 

 Higher-level meanings 

 Culture

 Individualization

 Middle-level meanings 

 Latent functions

 Privacy

 Lower-levelmeanings 

 Manifest functions

 A room for every family member

 Dwelling Features 

 Physical feature

 Number of rooms

 

OTB Research Institute for Housing, Urban and Mobility Studies

July 8 2004 5The meaning of preferences for features of a dwelling

Research questions

• Focus on dwelling features?

• Levels of meaning; hierarchy?

• Meaning networks?

OTB Research Institute for Housing, Urban and Mobility Studies

July 8 2004 6The meaning of preferences for features of a dwelling

Research methodology

• Convenience sample: n=45• Semi-structured interviews

• Elicitation of salient features and preferred levels

• Measurement of meaning structures (laddering)• Content analysis• Correspondence analysis and Network analysis• Study in the paper is confined to three features:

dwelling type (apartment), size of living room, number of rooms

OTB Research Institute for Housing, Urban and Mobility Studies

July 8 2004 7The meaning of preferences for features of a dwelling

Individual meaning structures

  

 

Well-being

Atmosphere

Comfort

Health

Apartment

Freedom

Comfort

No garden

Apartment Size ofliving room

Space

Furnishings

Comfort

Size ofliving room

Furnishings

Activities

Social contacts

Number ofrooms

Multi-functionality

Family

Privacy

Number ofrooms

Space

Furnishings

Clean

OTB Research Institute for Housing, Urban and Mobility Studies

July 8 2004 8The meaning of preferences for features of a dwelling

CA of dwelling features and meanings

OTB Research Institute for Housing, Urban and Mobility Studies

July 8 2004 9The meaning of preferences for features of a dwelling

Meaning network for apartment

 

OTB Research Institute for Housing, Urban and Mobility Studies

July 8 2004 10The meaning of preferences for features of a dwelling

Adjacency matrix for apartment N

o ga

rden

Sp

ace

Fu

rnis

hin

gs

Com

fort

En

joyi

ng

life

Hea

lth

Pri

vacy

Soc

ial

con

tact

s

Wel

l bei

ng

Fre

edom

Ou

tdeg

rees

of

row

mea

nin

gs

No garden

- 1 7 1 1 10

Space

- 2 4 1 1 1 3 2 14

Furnishings

2 - 1 3 1 1 8

Comfort

5 2 - 2 6 1 4 4 6 30

Enjoying life 1 1 - 1 1 5

Health

4 - 1 5

Privacy

- 1 1 2

Social contacts - 1 1

Well being

1 - 1

Freedom

1 - 1

Indegrees of column meanings

0

8

5

19

4

6

6

7

11

11

77

OTB Research Institute for Housing, Urban and Mobility Studies

July 8 2004 11The meaning of preferences for features of a dwelling

Abstractness of meanings  Dwelling type

(apartment)Size of living room Number of rooms

Freedom 0.92 0.52  

Well-being 0.92 0.76 1.00

Social contacts 0.88 0.67 0.78

Privacy 0.75 1.00 0.68

Health 0.55    

Enjoying life 0.44    

Comfort 0.39 0.67 0.55

Furnishings 0.38 0.33 0.50

Space 0.36 0.19 0.40

No garden 0.00    

Multi-functionality   0.40 0.15

Clean     0.88

Tradition     0.50

Family     0.36

OTB Research Institute for Housing, Urban and Mobility Studies

July 8 2004 12The meaning of preferences for features of a dwelling

Symmetry test for adjacency matrices

 

  X2-value Degrees of freedom

P-value

Dwelling type (apartment) 24.01 1 < 0.01

Size of living room 14.63 1 < 0.01

Number of rooms 34.67 1 < 0.01

OTB Research Institute for Housing, Urban and Mobility Studies

July 8 2004 13The meaning of preferences for features of a dwelling

Centrality of meanings

  Dwelling type (apartment)

Size of living room Number of rooms

Comfort 0.61 0.22 0.28

Space 0.28 0.38 0.25

Furnishings 0.16 0.37 0.18

Freedom 0.15 0.26  

Well-being 0.15 0.35 0.15

Health 0.14    

No garden 0.12    

Enjoying life 0.11    

Privacy 0.10 0.05 0.24

Social contacts 0.10 0.18 0.11

Multi-functionality   0.12 0.43

Clean     0.10

Tradition     0.05

Family     0.18

OTB Research Institute for Housing, Urban and Mobility Studies

July 8 2004 14The meaning of preferences for features of a dwelling

Conclusions

• People can externalize manifest and latent functions of dwelling features

• The approach to focus on dwelling features may reveal meanings that remain hidden in a holistic study of the meaning of a dwelling

• Levels of meaning could be distinguished empirically as well as the hierarchical nature of meaning structures

• An analysis of the centrality of meanings showed that meanings differ with respect to their prominence in meaning networks