The Meaning Structure Method

In housing preference research, most methods for measuring housing preferences only focus on what people’s preferences are. The purpose of the meaning structure method is to assess what people’s housing preferences are and to uncover why they have these preferences. Studying the motives of housing preferences may lead to a better understanding of these preferences, while these motives may also be used for both marketing communication about houses as well as for developing and designing dwellings. The meaning structure method consists of a conceptual model, a measurement method, and an analysis. The method and its origin are described in this chapter and several examples are presented.

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