Field study on the influence of users' social qualities on the evaluation of subjective loudness and acoustic comfort in underground shopping streets

It has been demonstrated in previous studies by the authors and by other researchers that the evaluation of subjective loudness and acoustic comfort depends on a series of factors in context,rather than only on sound pressure levels.In this study,an analysis of sound sources and sound fields in underground shopping streets has been carried out and a large scale subjective survey has been undertaken in several underground shopping streets in Harbin,China,to determine how users' social characteristics influence their evaluation of subjective loudness and acoustic comfort.The results show that the subjective loudness is influenced by income and occupation,with correlation coefficients of about 0.1～0.4.The evaluation of acoustic comfort is influenced by income,education level and occupation,with correlation coefficients of 0.1～0.6. The effect of gender on the evaluation of subjective loudness and acoustic comfort is statistically insignificant,although females have a wider range of evaluation scores.The correlations between age and the evaluation of subjective loudness and acoustic comfort are not significant,although between certain age groups there are considerable differences.The effects of occupation are mainly caused by the differences in education level and income,and the effects of income are greater than that of education level.The above results can enhance the knowledge of soundscapes in underground shopping streets,and they also form a good basis for prediction models for soundscapes in underground shopping streets.