Key Terms

📖 Key Terms

Environmental Quality Survey (EQS) — A systematic method of measuring perceived environmental quality at multiple sites by rating a set of criteria (litter, building condition, green space, etc.) on a numerical scale. Because it involves judgement, it produces quasi-quantitative data that should be treated as a measure of perception rather than objective fact.

Transect — A straight line through a study area along which observations or measurements are taken at regular intervals. In urban fieldwork, a transect runs from the CBD outward through successive urban zones, allowing patterns related to distance from the centre to be identified and tested.

Likert scale — A rating scale used in surveys and EQS designs, typically ranging from 1 to 5, where each number represents a degree of quality or agreement (e.g., 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree; or 1 = very poor to 5 = excellent). Produces ordinal data — the intervals between points may not be equal in reality, even though they appear equal on the scale.

Systematic sampling — A sampling strategy in which data collection points or survey subjects are selected at regular, predetermined intervals (e.g., every 200 metres along a transect; every 5th person to pass). Reduces bias compared to opportunistic sampling (choosing the most convenient or interesting sites) while ensuring spatial or temporal coverage.

Reliability — The extent to which a measurement or survey would produce the same result if repeated under the same conditions by a different researcher or at a different time. A reliable method is internally consistent. EQS surveys have lower reliability than pedestrian counts because subjective judgement introduces variation between observers.

Validity — The extent to which a method actually measures what it claims to measure. An EQS measuring "environmental quality" is only valid if the criteria chosen genuinely reflect what people mean by environmental quality. A questionnaire asking about weekly shopping habits is not valid for investigating daily pedestrian patterns.

Bipolar analysis — A data presentation method (also called a radar or spider diagram) that scores multiple criteria for a location on axes radiating from a central point, all on the same scale. Useful for comparing overall quality profiles between sites and for showing which individual criteria differ most between locations.

Central Business District (CBD) — The commercial and business core of a city, characterised by the highest land values, tallest buildings, greatest density of retail and office uses, and highest pedestrian flows. In Burgess's model, it forms Zone 1 at the centre of the concentric rings.

Qualitative data — Data that describes qualities, characteristics, or experiences rather than quantities. Examples: written answers to open questionnaire questions; field sketches; interview transcripts; photographs. Cannot be directly subjected to statistical tests but provides depth and contextual understanding that numbers alone cannot capture.

Quantitative data — Data expressed as numbers. Examples: pedestrian counts, EQS scores, distances, traffic counts. Can be subjected to statistical tests (mean, correlation). Tends to have higher reliability (especially for count data) but may miss nuance that qualitative data captures.

Spearman's rank correlation coefficient (rs) — A statistical test that measures the strength and direction of the relationship between two ranked variables (e.g., rank of site by distance vs rank of site by EQS score). Values range from −1 (perfect negative correlation) to +1 (perfect positive correlation). Used in fieldwork write-ups to determine whether the observed pattern is statistically significant.