Enhancing Ecological Validity: Live Mock Crimes or Recordings Assessment

Abstract

In the literature, a lot of images, videos, and virtual reality have been used to show survey respondents complex attributes. Due to their lower costs and potential for a more accurate depiction of the real world, immersive videos are likely to be used more frequently in the future. However, their ecological validity, which can be defined as the degree to which the results they produce in a laboratory setting, such as choice experiments, are sufficiently like the results that would have been obtained in a real-life setting, has not been sufficiently tested in the literature. The subsequent work compares two representation formats—immersive videos and images—to determine whether they can elicit the same perceptual responses from pedestrians as real environments. A survey in these two formats and on-site interviews were used to accomplish this. After controlling for all relevant sociodemographic variables using a MIMIC method, the results show that one of the three relevant qualitative variables—perception of safety and security—was not different from what was actually elicited in real life. Also, the results show that immersive videos always cause less distortion than photographs.

Introduction

In stated preference (SP) experiments, images and videos are frequently used to show respondents complex concepts like qualitative variables or characteristics that are difficult to convey through text, like style or aesthetic design. Respondents can also get a lot of information from images, which can be read more quickly than text. However, their capacity to accurately portray the options in question raises questions.

In point of fact, all of the representation methods that are utilized in stated preference surveys run the risk of misrepresenting the actual situation, rendering them unable to replicate the choices respondents would have made in a real-world setting. The environmental psychology literature has referred to this particular validity issue as ecological validity, understanding validity as "the extent to which a research procedure measures what it is supposed to measure" (Bronfenbrenner, 1977).An ecologically valid experiment is one that is capable of producing the same results in a simulated setting (e.g., a stated preference survey) and in a real scenario (a real choice setting).1 Some studies from the fields of psychology and landscape studies have measured the ecological validity of several representation formats, including text, images, and virtual reality, and have arrived at mixed results (see, for example, Higuera-Trujillo et al., 1977). Ecological validity can be defined as "the app2017;Farooq and other,2018).To put it another way, no one can agree on a representation format or visual stimuli that are ecologically acceptable.

Due to their lower costs and probably better representation of reality, immersive videos are likely to be used more frequently in the future to collect SP data. In order to anticipate this trend, it is essential to determine whether this representation format is superior to other formats for depicting complex attributes. It would not make sense to use this technology if, for instance, immersive videos are just as harmful to the environment as conventional photographs because it requires a much more intricate construction of the scenarios and data collection process. However, if there is a benefit, researchers should choose it over other formats.

In this study, we verify the ecological validity of two representational formats: immersive videos and photographs. In order to accomplish this, a survey on pedestrian perceptions of public spaces was carried out in three formats:1) through interviews with pedestrians at three predetermined locations; (2) by showing respondents immersive videos of these locations;3) by showing respondents pictures of these places. Multiple causes, multiple indicators (MIMIC;The Jöreskog and Goldberger (1975) method was used to measure how different representation formats and sociodemographic characteristics affected perceptions. We found that immersive videos could accurately mimic reality (perceived safety and security) after controlling for all observable variables, while both representation formats induced bias in responses in two other variables. Immersive videos also consistently induced fewer biases, leading us to believe that this representation format should always be preferred to photographs.

Data Collection

A survey on pedestrian evaluations of streets was designed to determine whether immersive videos offer researchers a benefit over static images. This topic was chosen because it has a spatial component and depends on how subjective variables (perceived safety, comfort) and objective attributes (width of sidewalk, speed of vehicles) are perceived. Respondents were contacted and given a street in one of three possible representation formats during each of the three stages of the survey's deployment: reality as a whole, immersive videos, or static pictures After that, they were asked to fill out the same survey regarding their perceptions.We were able to compare assessments measured in these three formats using this information and determine whether or not they significantly differed.

Methodology

A MIMIC framework, which is typical of hybrid discrete choice models, was used to model perceptions of public spaces (Jöreskog and Goldberger, 1975).This method assumes that the response to multiple observable indicators is explained by an unobservable, latent variable that is influenced by multiple observable variables.

It depicts our study's general framework.In the beginning, we assumed that a number of latent variables, such as respondents' perceptions of comfort or safety, were correlated with observable variables, such as the characteristics of respondents, the representation format (photograph, immersive video, or reality), and the characteristics of the location.On the other hand, we assumed that at least one psychometric indicator's response is explained by each latent variable.

Keep in mind that the response to a single indicator could be explained by more than one latent variable, and that more than one indicator could be explained by a single latent variable.

There are two distinct types of relations shown in this diagram.The first type is structural relations, which show how observable variables affect the latent variable i, which is related to respondent n and location j.characteristics of respondents (Xn) and characteristics of their location (Xj).Despite the fact that respondents' characteristics were the primary focus of our study, location characteristics can be perfectly accommodated within this framework.Equation (1) demonstrates this connection, where Xi is a function with parameters that connect observable variables to the latent variable.

Results

The outcomes for the three considerations are presented in Tables 6 and 7.The latter takes into account representation formats as well, whereas the former only takes into account sociodemographic characteristics as input variables.Dummy variables were used for each and every variable.Step by step, significant variables were chosen and eliminated if their p-values were less than 0.10.Reports include reliable t-tests.

The data presented in Table 6 can be used to draw a number of inferences about how users perceive public spaces.For instance, Providencia was thought to have the best built environment, followed by El Golf.Additionally, El Golf was thought to be the most fascinating and safest location.Those who were familiar with the surveyed locations—those who visited them at least daily—perceived them as being of higher quality, more useful, and lively than those who did not frequent them.However, compared to those who were unfamiliar with these locations, frequent users' perceptions of safety were not significantly different.On average, women thought that public places were more dangerous.

Lastly, the majority of people who live in downtown Santiago said that certain areas were safer and more appealing.

299 The models in Table 6 were re-estimated with additional testing for variables that were not significant in the first set of models and information on the 300 representation format.Table 7 displays these outcomes.For instance, the positive signs 302 of "Female immersive" in models associated with Factors 1 and 3 demonstrate that women on average.

References

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