| Historically, the study of home related to interior design has been limited to qualitative research methods. Likewise, the factors of home identified through various qualitative studies have not been examined using quantitative analysis. This work argues that a dialectic approach, implementing both qualitative and quantitative means, must be employed to understand and design for the complex idea of home.; The population of University students was identified as an adult population in a voluntary state of transition between parental and future home states. The condition of voluntary transition placed these students in a unique condition where they could reflect on the homes of their parents while imagining the ideal home they hoped to create.; The purpose of this study was to develop a model of home and to test an instrument whereby the factors of an ideal home can be generalized. Additionally, interior design educators and interior designers can use the instrument as a baseline for when dealing with the subject of home. The study does not point to specific artifacts, architectural features, or styles that may be present in a home. For example, the literature revealed, through qualitative means that personalization is required for an individual to create home. The qualitative instrument in this study established that personalization is an integral part of most university students' ideal home. As a baseline for inquiry, an interior designer can use qualitative methods to determine how individual students personalize within their home.; This study investigates the factors of home related to university students' perception of the ideal home. A model of home with four categories each with five factors was created using the literature. Two-hundred and thirteen undergraduate students from three universities in the United States participated in a questionnaire about how they valued the factors of home in relation to their ideal of home. A quantitative instrument was developed using existing qualitative based literature. All of the factors of home proved to be supported by high levels of agreement. Location, gender, and time invested in the home were shown to have a significant effect on the value ratings of home. |
