Page 30 - JCAU-6-4

Journal of Chinese
Architecture and Urbanism Residents’ perspectives on heritage strategies

45 min. Initial data saturation was achieved after the 3.2. Quantitative methodology
first 11 interviews, while the remaining four served as Following the qualitative methods, a 12-week questionnaire
validation and ensuring data integrity. A purposeful survey was conducted starting in March 2023. The aim was
snowball sampling technique was employed, as the experts to investigate the perceptions of Zhengzhou residents on
involved were difficult to contact and recruit through public the current heritage conservation strategies implemented
channels. Starting with the first respondent in a personal in the Guancheng district. A convenience sampling
network, the pool of interviewees gradually expanded technique was applied to select respondents. The survey
based on recommendations. With informed consent, excluded tourists, those under 18 years old, and individuals
all interviews were recorded. To protect the privacy and who had lived in the area for less than a year to ensure
identities of the interviewees, coded names were applied that relevant and representative feedback was collected.
instead of their actual names (Table 1).
The questionnaire survey was carried out in or around
During the semi-structured interviews, participants the heritage sites in the Guancheng district. Face-to-face
were asked to respond to a series of open-ended questions surveys were carried out using an iPad, with respondents
covering themes related to heritage conservation in the scanning a QR code to fill out the questionnaire online.
Guancheng district. They were prompted to discuss The initial target sample size was 300. However, after
topics such as protection and implementation strategies screening for invalid responses, the final total number of
for several nationally designated heritage sites in the valid completed questionnaires was 294.
Guancheng district, the challenges encountered during
the conservation process, and their perspectives on the The questionnaire was designed based on findings
impact of these strategies on the current development from the first phase of qualitative research, which
and future direction of conservation efforts. Furthermore, identified five key themes related to heritage conservation
participants were asked to comment on challenges in the Guancheng district. To ensure the validity of the
associated with public engagement and education in questionnaire and comprehensive coverage of residents’
heritage conservation. Table 2 summarizes the coding opinions, a pre-survey was conducted in February 2023
process of the responses using NVivo 12 Plus, identifying with 40 representative participants. Reliability analysis
heritage conservation strategies under five thematic revealed that Cronbach’s alpha values for various question
frameworks. groups were all above 0.80 (Table 3), indicating good
internal consistency. In addition, to ensure content validity,
Table 1. Interviewees’ profiles feedback was sought from three professors in the field who
evaluated each questionnaire item. Their feedback ensured
S/N Group Occupation Age Education that the questionnaire adequately covered essential aspects
01 Scholars/cultural Associate Professor 38 PhD of the study and refined unclear expressions for better
02 expert Associate researcher 39 PhD clarity and accuracy. The survey was conducted in China,
03 Lecturer 36 PhD candidate with all respondents being native Chinese speakers. To
04 Lecturer 40 Master ensure consistency and accuracy between the English
and Chinese versions of the questionnaire, a professor
05 Assistant research 49 Master specializing in English-to-Chinese translation was enlisted
director
06 Professionals involved 39 Master to assist with the translation and proofreading.
in archeological The questionnaire comprised 30 questions divided
research into two sections. The first section gathered respondents’
07 Practitioners/ Department director 52 Bachelor personal background information, while the remaining
08 staff Senior management 41 Master 23 questions utilized a five-point Likert scale to collect
09 Senior management 42 Bachelor respondents’ perceptions of local heritage conservation
10 Administration staff 31 Bachelor strategies based on five thematic frameworks of
11 Administrative staff 34 Bachelor local government. This section aimed to investigate
respondents’ perceptions of the effectiveness of existing
12 Administrative staff 34 Bachelor heritage conservation strategies. The Statistical Package
13 Administration staff 47 Master for the Social Sciences (SPSS) statistical software was
14 Heritage education 44 Bachelor used for data analysis, including descriptive statistical
department analysis to identify respondents’ demographic profiles.
15 Publicity and education 32 Bachelor Independent sample t-tests and analysis of variance
department (ANOVA) were employed to compare and reveal the

Volume 6 Issue 4 (2024) 9 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.3421