Experiential and Emotional Basis for Sense of Place

The research investigates individual's experiences and emotions connected to a location of their choosing. The research seeks to determine what causes an individual to develop a sense of place for a specific location. The research investigates the experiences individuals had with the place they chose to discuss. The participants are asked to discuss the emotions they feel when they talk about or when they remember their places. The research is conducted using a mixed method approach of both quantitative and qualitative investigation. The sample is persons over 18 years old living in the United States.;The hypothesis of this research is there are specific sites for which an individual has an affinity and strong connections based on the importance of their experiences at the site. This hypothesis is tested using five (5) types of experiences and ten (10) emotions. The research seeks the binding elements of a person's affinity for the site. If the hypothesis is correct an individual's affinity for a site will be stronger based on the importance of their experience at the site.;Part One of the research is a series of personal interviews. The transcriptions of the Part One interviews are coded and categorized into types of experiences and how the experiences are described. Coding of the interviews provides the list of emotions that the interview participants said they feel related to their places. Through the coding process the questions about experiences and emotions related to sense of place are developed. These questions are utilized in the Part Two telephone survey. There are 413 responses to the telephone survey. These responses form the sample for the analysis.;The current research finds that a person's experience has a statistically significant relationship to the strength of the person's feelings for a specific site. The research data and the statistical analysis provide a new base for the study of sense of place. This research provides a model for the study of sense of place through the process of investigation and discovery of a person's experiences at a specific place, and an investigation of emotions related to those experiences and thereby related to the site.;In addition through this research sense of place may now be seen as a personal value providing grounding to individuals and guidance to their lives and actions.