Semantic Dimensional Structures

Abstract

This study represents a methodological attempt to discover the fundamental semantic dimensions underlying people's perceptions of the physical environment, applying both nonverbal and verbal techniques. Dimensional structures were assessed across people with urban, nonurban, and mixed backgrounds. The subjects sorted a set of envirionmental displays into as many groups as they wanted, and rated each of these displays on a set of selected bipolar scales. The sorting data (nonverbal) were analyzed by Kruskal's multidimensional scaling method and the rating data (verbal) by a factor-analytic technique. Both analyses revealed three significant dimensions upon which people based their judgments of th physical environment: evaluation, urbanization, and organization.