Student Apartment Research Articles

Environmental Characteristics Associated with Residential Burglaries of Student Apartment Complexes

This study identified environmental characteristics associated with residential burglaries of apartment complexes predominantly occupied by students, located near two major universities and a community college in Tallahassee, Florida. Through observation and measurement of environmental characteristics, results showed that accessibility played little role in differentiating burglarized and nonburglarized apartment units. Yet, burglarized units were disproportionately likely to be located on the comer of the building and on the first floor. Results also showed that apartment units with reported burglaries in 1993 were less surveillable than apartment units with no reported burglaries—i.e., burglarized units were more obstructed by foliage or structure. Finally, through surveying student apartment residents, results suggested that burglaries largely occurred at times when students reported being away from their apartments for purposes of attending classes, engaging in recreational activities, or shopping. The results add additional support for the well-established link between environmental characteristics and residential burglary.

Air Levels of Volatile Organic Compounds following Indoor Application of an Emulsifiable Concentrate Insecticide

Insecticidal formulations contain volatile inert ingredients that may be responsible for many of the general health complaints associated with indoor applications. Recent indoor air modeling results suggested that the levels of these volatile organic compounds (VOCs) could be high enough to cause health complaints among certain individuals. To confirm these findings, we performed broadcast and perimeter insecticide applications in four identical, unoccupied student apartments at Rutgers University. Passive dosimeters were used to obtain time-weighted average VOC measurements during the 24 h following each application. Levels were consistently higher in the apartments treated with broadcast applications, reflecting the greater amount of material applied by this method. Peak broadcast levels (21 mg/m3) were similar to peak levels generated by the model and were in the range expected to result in health complaints. Peak perimeter levels were approximately two-thirds as high as peak broadcast levels. Both bro...

Change of preferences under time pressure: choices and judgements

Students made choices between student apartments judged to be equally attractive. When asked to choose the best apartment in each pair of alternatives, choices made by a group under time pressure were significantly different from those made by another group under no time pressure. The effect was so strong that preference reversals were obtained which could be explained by subjects over‐evaluating negative aspects on the most important attribute under time pressure.

Attractiveness of decision alternatives characterized by numerical and non‐numerical information

Subjects judged the attractiveness of student apartments characterized by the attributes of size, standard and travelling time to the university. The information describing the apartments was given either in numerical (e.g., 21 m2) or verbal form (e.g., small). In the first experiment the verbal descriptions were scaled numerically to ensure comparability of the numerical and verbal presentations. In the second experiment, the subjects gave attractiveness judgments of these alternatives described in all different combinations of numerically and verbally presented attributes. In the third experiment, ananlyses of numerical judgments and think aloud protocols were used. The most important attribute was travelling time to the university. In general, numerical representation of the most important attribute tended to have somewhat greater impact on attractiveness judgements than verbal descriptions. This average tendency reflected a substantial difference for poor alternatives and a small or nonexisting effect for the most attractive apartments in the set of decision alternatives. This result was related to findings of different decision processes for choices among positive and negative decision alternatives.

Information Integration Theory Applied to Student Apartment Selection Decisions

The purpose of this paper is to apply theory and methodology developed in the study of information integration in psychology to the modeling of individual apartment decisions. In particular, two models that express the trade‐off relationships among three variables hypothesized to be influential in apartment selection are examined. Although it is not claimed that the variables included in the study are the only ones relevant to apartment selection, evidence is provided that they are considered to be the three most important in a preliminary analysis. The paper also discusses potential benefits of controlled experimentation and model estimation strategies.

Apartment Environments and Socialization of Young Children

Interaction between the physical environment, parental attitudes, and socialization settings of young children were investigated. The specific problem related apartment residence on the first versus second floor to spatial location and supervision of children, as well as to maternal attitudes about housing and child rearing. Respondents were 67 mothers who lived in student apartments and who had children aged 30 to 66 months. Each mother kept records of child activity, location, and supervision and also completed a questionnaire that investigated child‐rearing attitudes and satisfaction with housing.Children living in second‐floor apartments were more restricted than those who lived on the first floor, especially during afternoon hours. Although the amount of parental supervision did not vary by floor level, first‐floor children had more contacts with other children and adults. These and other findings suggest that designers and owners of apartments as well as parents living in apartments need to consider possible effects of apartment living on the development of young children.