Purpose of the Study 2/12

Overall Principles:
Describe in brief sentances, connecting your research problem, based on your literature review, following with research methods.

Purpose of the Study
1. Use a word such as purpose, intent, or objective to begin the passage
2. identify the theory, model, or conceptual framework to be tested in the study (do not need to describe it in detail)
3. mention the specific type of method of inquiry being used in the study (survey, experiment)
4. state whether the independent and dependent variables will be related or whether two or more groups(as an independent variable) will be compared in terms of the dependent variable(s)
5. as a general principle, order the variables in the relationship or comparison sentence from independent to dependent
6. refer to the unit of analysis in the study (mention the subjects, population, or sample being studied, as well as the number of the individuals studied
7. provide a general definition for each key variable in the study and use established definition

Examples:

The purpose of this____(experimental? Survey?) study is (was? Will be?) to test the theory of ____that____(compares? Relates?) the____(independent variable) to____(dependent variable) for____(subjects? Sample?) at____(the research site). The independent variable(s) ____will be defined generally as____(provide a general definition). The dependent variable(s) will be defined generally as____(provide a general definition), and the intervening variable(s), ____(identify the intervening variables) will be statistically controlled in the study.
(Research Design, Creswell, 2006?)

The purpose of the present research was to develop rating scale measures of the four components postulated by Kaplan and Kaplan (1989). To develop such measures has at least two important motivations. First, by empirically showing that the hypothesized restorative components are separate constructs, an evaluation of Kaplan and Kaplan's (1989) theory is achieved. Second, it is necessary to be able to measure the restorative components to find out how they are related to different outcome measures. There is hardly any other way of doing this than requesting human observers to report how they experience different environments in these respects (Craik & Feimer, 1987).
......
The objective of the present research is to develop another set of rating scale measures of the four components of restorative environments, being away, extent, fascination, and compatibility. In doing this, an attempt is made to remedy some of the noted shortcomings of the PRS.
(Journal of Environmental Pshcyology (2001) 21, 31-44)

This article focuses on exploring the affective components of the wilderness place setting as they relate to spiritually beneficial outdoor recreation experiences; more specifically, what types of setting characteristics or attributes (i.e. biophysical and social) give rise to outdoor experiences that are considered spiritually inspirational. Historically, most research on recreation has focused primarily on specific activities rather than the recreational setting in and of itself. However, over the past two decades researchers have begun to recognize that the setting itself is largely influential in determining how satisfied the recreationist is with the activity. In effect, the parameters of recreation research have now broadened to include the environment as a primary point of inquiry. The thrust of this article is to more fully investigate a number of setting attributes that were ‘key’ in determining the spiritually inspirational qualities of two different outdoor recreation experiences for two separate groups of women.
(Journal of Environmental Psychology(1999)19, 21-39 )

The purpose of this study was to determine whether there was a relationship between the degree of naturalness in the view from university dormitory residents’ windows and their capacity to direct attention.
......
The specific objective of this study was to determine whether the degree of naturalness in the view from college dormitory windows was associated with residents’ levels of capacity to direct attention. It was hypothesized that students who had more natural views from their dormitory windows would show higher levels of performance on measures of directed attention than those who had less natural window views.
(Journal ofEnvimnmento1 Psychology (1995) 15,77-85 )

The aim of this study was to search for a link between the map-based land cover data typical for monitoring programs, and perceived aesthetic quality as quantified through a photography-based preference study. To achieve this we used the results from a landscape preference study for Norwegian agricultural landscapes (Tveit, 2000), linked to a number of 1 km2 squares included in the 3Q-monitoring programme. Based on the land­scape represented in the images, we calculated a number of map-based landscape indicators, aiming to see whether any of these indicators were correlated to preference rankings.
(Landscape and Urban Planning 78 (2006) 465-474 )

The central aim of the present research was to gain more insight into people’s visual preferences for nature development landscapes. In the following paragraphs, we first discuss differ­ent strategies for nature development and their relation to the concept of wilderness. We then review prior research on indi­vidual differences in visual preferences for wild versus managed natural landscapes along with the potential relevance of place of residence, socio-economic variables, and recreational motives to explain these differences. Finally, we present the results of a survey among 500 residents from six nature development areas in The Netherlands.
(Landscape and Urban Planning 78 (2006) 362-372)

The emphasis of prior research on restoration has been on experiences in outdoor natural settings that range considerably in duration but are distinctly longer than the very brief interludes that characterize looking out the window (e.g., Hartig, Böök, Garvill, Olsson, & Gärling, 1996; Hartig, Mang, & Evans, 1991). The emphasis of the present article, by contrast, is on people’s window views from home. More specifically, the focus is on the content of these views, the degree to which residents’ views are of preferred settings, and the association of view contents with well-being and residential satisfaction. Examination of the role of the view from home is hardly a trivial issue. For many individuals, extended restorative experiences may be few and far between. Micro-restorative experiences afforded by the view from home, however, may be far more attainable.
(Environmant and behavior, Vol. 33 No.4, July 2001 507-542)