View in Vital Signs- Vibrant Human Quality of Life
- Sense of Place
- Indicator
- Sense of Place Index
- Vital Sign Indicator
- Percent (%)
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No targets are currently set for this indicator.
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Kelly Biedenweg
- Contributing Partners
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- Last Updated
- 8/5/2021 12:08:50 PM
The Sense of Place Index informs us about peoples’ emotional connection to Puget Sound. Understanding trends and variations in sense of place allows us to evaluate the human effects of restoration strategies. It also informs communication and marketing campaigns, opportunities for public engagement in restoration activities, and overall predictors of engaging in the Puget Sound natural environment.
- Over 75 percent of Puget Sound residents “agree” or “strongly agree” that Puget Sound plays a role in their identity, pride, and attachment.
- Those living in the northern and western Puget Sound counties expressed slightly higher sense of place on average. There was no significant difference among Latinx and non-Latinx respondents in 2020.
- These data have not changed since 2018.
- Monitoring Program
- Data Source
Oregon State University Human Dimensions Lab
The Sense of Place Index is made up of seven questions addressing attachment to Puget Sound as a place, Puget Sound contributing to one’s identity, and feeling pride in being from Puget Sound. An index is appropriate because each indicator metric is related, but is a unique aspect of the concept.
- Attachment to Puget Sound Region. Average level of agreement that residents feel attached to the Puget Sound natural environment.
- Pride in Puget Sound region. Average level of agreement that residents feel pride from living in the Puget Sound.
- Responsibility for Puget Sound region. Average level of agreement that residents feel responsible to take care of the Puget Sound natural environment.
- Identity from Puget Sound region. Average level of agreement that residents feel that living in the Puget Sound says a lot about who they are.
- Nature-based connection. Average level of agreement that residents feel that being able to engage in outdoor activities or cultural practices is important to their Puget Sound connection.
- Local scale attachment. Average level of agreement that residents feel mostly attached to parts of Puget Sound nearest to them.
- Reverse-stated satisfaction. Average level of agreement that residents feel they could be satisfied living in place outside of the Puget Sound.
Data are collected every 2 years via paper survey to a random sample of Puget Sound households. The population chosen for this survey was a clustered random sample of Puget Sound residents, with an initial sample of 9,000. Due to undeliverable addresses, the total sample reached was less than 9,000. In 2020, the response rate was 25 percent for a total of 1,843 respondents.
Also appended is a 2021 purposive sample of 180 Latinx respondents who were selected using a variety of techniques, including:
- qualtrics panel of Latinx respondents,
- recruitment ads placed in Spanish and English with regional Spanish radio and newspapers, and
- social media recruitment through Puget Sound Latinx groups.
This one-time survey was conducted to approach Latinx respondents in diverse, potentially more culturally-appropriate ways, to determine if the Latinx respondents to our general public survey significantly differ from the overall Latinx population of Puget Sound (e.g., do Latinx respondents to our biennial random sample survey represent a biased group of Latinx?). To answer this question we compared the responses to the purposive sample to 1) all non-Latinx respondents in the general public survey and 2) only Latinx respondents to the general public survey.
- Critical Definitions
The mean index response is 5.57, which equates to “agree” with statements about the importance of Puget Sound to the individual's sense of place. In other words, over 75 percent of Puget Sound residents “agree” or “strongly agree” that Puget Sound plays role in their identity, pride, and attachment.
For the random population sample, a linear regression explained 14 percent of the variation in responses based on demographics. As such, other factors are more important in predicting sense of place than what we measured. That said, a higher sense of place was more likely to be recorded for people who lived in urban areas, were white, and were liberal. For the purposive Latinx sample, those who expressed higher sense of place were more likely to be older, have a higher income, and have lived fewer years in the U.S.
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This is the second iteration of collecting these data. We do not anticipate significant differences to appear until several years of monitoring.
The Puget Sound Partnership believes in the transparency and accessibility of the data used to address progress measures. These data are provided by contributing partners to the Partnership and are made publicly available through the Puget Sound Info site. These data are available on an "as is" basis and the Partnership is not responsible for any errors, omissions, or inaccuracies. Please acknowledge the monitoring program and data source when using these data and obtain permission from the Vital Sign Indicator Reporter to use these data in a publication.
- 2020 Human Wellbeing Data
- Uploaded On
- 5/27/2021
- File Type
- Excel (XLSX)
- Description
- Results are presented for the subjective Human Wellbeing Vital Sign indicators. Data were collected via a survey to the general population of the Puget Sound Region in 2020. Please acknowledge the Oregon State University Human Dimensions Lab and Puget Sound Partnership when using these data.
- Reporting Instructions
| Name | |
|---|---|
| Response |
Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Somewhat Disagree, Neutral, Somewhat Agree
[2 More Options]
Agree, Strongly Agree
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