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