) Field studies: The aim of these studies is to study thermal
comfort in the real world. Research is conducted as subjects go
about normally with their work; there is no attempt to control
the environment that may have varied from just the air
temperature to all factors. In many surveys clothing value
and metabolic rate are recorded. Furthermore, a field study
will be influenced by other indirect factors, such as cultural
and psychological factors. The first aim is to discover what
combination of environmental variables best describes the
subjective responses of the subjects. The underlying assumption
of the field survey is that people are able to control their
environment in such a way that they try to reach comfort.
Therefore, also the behaviour of the building plays an important
role