CHAPTER 4
1. Site
● Details where you are going to erect your structure
● For studies with site selection process, you're going to present the site selection
evaluation in this chapter
Describe the following:
● Location/Surrounding Areas
● Technical Lot Description
● Land Area and Configuration
● Access - not just the roads, but also the mode of transporation
● Landforms - describe the landform within and surrounding the site
● Topography - contour map
● Water Bodies - identify bodies of water surrounding the site, needed also for the
sanitary plan/layout
● Visual Resources - the views surrounding the area
● Danger/Hazard Prone Areas - provide hazard maps
● Existing Structures
● Site Analysis
● Utilities Available
○ Water
○ Power
○ Drainage
○ Internet
2. User and Client Profile
● Client - the one who initiates the study or the project, could be:
○ An individual
○ A company
○ A corporation
○ NGO
○ The government
● Client Profile - describe your clients history and rationale why they want the
proposal (why are they building this? Business? expansion?)
○ If client is corporation, company, NGO, government, NEED TO PRESENT
ORGANIZATIONAL CHART, MISSION, VISION, & GOALS
STATEMENT. And discuss their objectives and future plans with the
proposal
● User - the individual/s who will use the proposal
○ Sometimes the client is also the user
○ Identify all the possible users of the proposal (from the lowly to the VIP)
○ Describe each of the identified users
○ Identify what are their activities in the proposal
○ Make sure to group the identified users as to their activities and
description
3. Data Analysis
● To extract and analyze data, creating a research instrument is important, the
most common is questionnaire
○ A questionnaire is versatile since it can be done through QUALITATIVE
(survey questionnaires) and QUANTITATIVE (interview & focus group
discussions) methods
Objectives in Designing Questionnaires:
How to Administer the Questionnaires:
Length of Questionnaire:
● No universal agreements about optimal length of questionnaire, it depends on the
types of respondents
● Short simple questionnaire = higher response rateates
● Length of questionnaire and response rates are inversely proportional
● Optimum number of questions: 10-15
● No extra questions should be asked
Introduction, Personalised Letter, and Ending:
Arranging the Questions
● General to particular
● Easy to difficult
● Factual to abstract
● Start with closed format questions
● Start with relevant to main subject
● Do not start with demographic and personal questions
Question Format:
● Open Format - open-ended questions for respondents to respond to a question
in their own terms
○ Allows exploration; essay-type, but in person
○ Can be used even if a comprehensive range of alternative choices is
available
● Closed Format - forced choice format; closed-ended questions where
respondents are asked to place themselves into one of a limited number of
responses which are provided
○ Easy and quick
○ Minimize discrimination against the less literate
○ Easy to code, record, and analyze
○ Easy to report results
Respondents are more likely to skip an open-ended question than a closed-ended one.
Types of Closed-ended:
Deciding what to ask
There are three potential types of information:
● Dependent Variables - primary information we are interested in; primary
questions that we ask
● Independent Variables - information that might explain the dependent variables;
follow-up questions
● Confounding Variables - factors related to dependent and independent factors
which may distort the results and have to be adjusted for; questions with no
bearing, questions that are filtered out by the adviser
Wording of Individual Questions:
Format of Responses
Ranking is the least frequently used, as the responses are difficult to record and analyze.
Piloting and Evaluation of Questionnaires:
● In large surveys, there may be three phases in piloting (respondents here are
selected and not the actual target):
○ First Phase: ask respondents in great detail about a limited number of
questions - effect of different wordings, what they have in mind when
answering, how they understand a particular word, etc
○ Second Phase: give out the full questionnaire to the selected
respondents and answers, then analyze the responses. Ask the
respondents why are your answers like this?
○ Third Phase: polishing of the pilot test to improve the questions’ order,
filtering, and layout
Conclusion
● Questionnaires must be carefully designed to yield valid information. Meticulous
attention must be paid to ensure questions are relevant, appropriate,
intelligible, precise, and unbiased
● Must be carefully arranged, layout must be clear
● Wise to draft a clear personalized cover letter
● Questionnaires must first be piloted and evaluated before the actual survey
Projection
● We do not use the current population in building public structures because we
are progressing
● To determine the population in the future, we need to use the data of the
population from the past; what we call projection, we PROJECT the population
● Optimum number of retroactive years is 10 years - 2015 to 2025: PROJECT
THE ANNUAL AVERAGE GROWTH
○ Compute the average annual growth of the population (small building: 5
yrs projection, large-scale: 10yrs)
● Formula:
● Then get the average of all the
Percentage
● We extend 15-20 years of data to tarong the line/trend caused by the pandemic
● Through this computation, we determine the number of spaces, occupant load,
etc, needed in the design/structure