An avowed aim of post-occupancy housing evaluation is to assess the impact of housing programs or residential settings on occupants. Yet, research designs with control groups go unused in these evaluations, despite their direct relevance. To encourage such research designs, a field-tested model for the selection of respondents for treatment and control groups, under conditions that do not allow random assignment, is described. The model's adequacy is evaluated and its limitations are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BECHTEL, R. B. (1974) "Experimental methods in environmental design research," pp. 286-292 in J. Langet al. (eds.) Design for Human Behavior. Stroudsburg, PA: Dowden, Hutchinson & Ross.
2.
BERNHARDT, K. L. (1972) "Recent research on consumer attitudes toward industrialized housing." Presented at the Conference on Housing in the 1970s, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
3.
CAMPBELL, D. E. (1976) "Evaluation of the built environment: lessons from program evaluation," pp. 227-234 in P. Suedfeld and J. A. Russell (eds.) The Behavioral Basis of Design, Book I: Selected Papers. Stroudsburg, PA: Dowden, Hutchinson & Ross.
4.
COOK, T. D. and D. T. CAMPBELL (1976) "The design and conduct of quasi-experiments and true experiments in field settings," pp. 223-326 in M. D. Dunnette (ed.) Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Skokie, IL: Rand McNally.
5.
LAWTON, M. P. and J. COHEN (1974) "Environment and the well-being of elderly inner-city residents."Environment and Behavior6: 194-211.
6.
MARGULIS, S. T. (1975) "A comparison of the opinions of Operation Break through occupants and conventional housing occupants about their housing."Industrialization Forum6, 1: 21-26.
7.
ROSSI, P. H. (1972) "Testing for success and failure in social action," pp. 11-49 in P. H. Rossi and W. Williams (eds.) Evaluating Social Programs: Theory, Practice, and Politics. New York: Seminar Press.
8.
WEHRLI, R. , N. STARNES, J. BRYAN, and S. T. MARGULIS (1978) "Feedback: living in Operation Breakthrough housing." Report submitted by the National Bureau of Standards to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
9.
WRIGHT, J. R. (1971) "Performance concept in buildings."Scientific Amer.224, 3: 16-25.
10.
ZIMRING, C. (1979) Personal communication (September).