Reflecting on sonic environments through a structured questionnaire: Grounded theory analysis of situated interviews with musicians

Abstract

Eight participants with a musical background were asked to reflect in depth on their experience of sonic environments through a structured questionnaire answered in either oral or written form. Six of these interviews took place at the Zentrum für Kunst und Medien in Karlsruhe, and two in London, to provide contrasting comparison terms. The questionnaire invited the participants to progress in their reasoning from the description of the present sonic environment to the formulation of thoughts on the acoustic design of spaces, the educational potential of soundwalking practices and the elicitation of places with aural character from their memory. The interview transcripts were qualitatively analysed through the grounded theory method with the aim to detail the underlying mechanisms towards the appraisal or criticism for an acoustic environment. Acoustic and psychoacoustic indicators were extracted from the binaural measurements of the interview settings to provide objective grounds for comparison. Five concurrent factors were identified as involved in the quality attribution process: purpose affordance, affective impact, memory, ecological awareness and acoustic design.