Exploring the compatibility of “Method A” and “Method B” data collection protocols reported in the ISO/TS 12913-2:2018 for urban soundscape via a soundwalk

Abstract The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) recently released technical specifications about minimum reporting requirements in soundscape studies and methods for data collection (ISO/TS 12913-2:2018). The document provides an informative annex with three alternative methods: two are based on soundwalks and questionnaires, whilst the third refers to narrative interviews. This study was conducted in accordance with the ISO/TS 12913-2 technical specifications. Its aim was testing whether compatible results could be obtained from the first two methods, during the same data collection session. For this purpose, a soundwalk was organised in a university campus with two groups of students using the two methods separately, while experiencing the same acoustic environments. Results show that for this case study the two methods returned soundscape categorisations that are similar and have strong statistically significant associations ( p  = .023). In particular, in 7 out of 8 locations, the two methods would categorise positive and negative soundscapes identically. However, since the correspondence was not perfect, further studies should investigate the topic of methodological comparisons in soundscape research, and possibly consider revising or integrating the two methods.