Analyzing the evaluation structure of irrigation channel landscapes using conjoint analysis

• Published in: Transactions of The Japanese Society of Irrigation, Drainage and Reclamation Engineering Vol. 2003; no. 223; pp. 1 - 10
• Main Authors: Kobayashi, H. (National Inst. for Rural Engineering, Tsukuba, Ibaraki (Japan)), Tsutsui, Y, Kojima, Y, Senga, Y
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: The Japanese Society of Irrigation, Drainage and Rural Engineering 2003
• Subjects: Agricultural Channel; Agricultural Water; EVALUATION; Evaluation according to Subject Profiles; Irrigation Channel Landscape Model; IRRIGATION SYSTEMS; LANDSCAPE; METHODS; Questionnaire Survey; QUESTIONNAIRES; VISION; Visual Evaluation Test
• ISSN: 0387-2335; 1884-7234
• DOI: 10.11408/jsidre1965.2003.1

It is said that agricultural water supplies and irrigation channels are an important element of rural landscapes. In this research we made sample photographs based on irrigation channel landscapes comprising the five attributes of viewing angle, channel materials, water depth, fences, and sitting conditions, then conducted a visual evaluation test on 185 subjects who had various attributes. Performing a conjoint analysis of the data resulted in these and other findings:(1) Water depth is the most important attribute affecting the preferences for irrigation channel landscapes. We also determined that subjects tended to have the same preferences in relation to the levels of the attributes that constitute the irrigation channel models.(2) We found differences in subjects' preferences depending on age group, gender, area of residence, and occupation.(3) When keeping channel sitting conditions the same while changing other attributes, subjects had a greater preference for a landscape if its channel water was deep, regardless of channel material, but channel material became a determining factor in the preference for a channel landscape if the water was shallow.