Home: Developing and testing a scale

Abstract

Although home studies have received academic attention for many years, previous research has focused on immigrants by employing qualitative methods while ignoring the increase of short-term residents and their needs for homes. The current study explores home perceptions of foreign residents living in Shenzhen, China, and employs rigorous scale development procedures to develop a reliable and valid scale of home. Five dimensions of home, including bodily, material, vibrant, imaginative, and emotional homes, were identified and confirmed. The findings of the study confirm several traditional constitutive concepts and reveal a new constitutive concept - vibrant home. This study provides a pioneering measurement tool for quantitatively assessing home and expands the theoretical understanding of home. Theoretical and practical implications are also offered.