In order to design a living environment that satisfies dwellers' various demands, an understanding of the nuances of each individual's qualitative evaluation is essential. The words used in a questionnaire for the evaluation of a living environment should accurately reflect the individual's viewpoint and state of mind. The purpose of this study is to clarify the characteristics of evaluative words used to describe living environments in order to enable the efficient selection of appropriate evaluative words for a questionnaire survey. A questionnaire using the word-choice method was handed out to adults living in detached houses or multiple-dwelling houses. Words expressing "comfort", "discomfort", "good house" or "bad house" were selected from one hundred evaluative words and each individual's house was evaluated by the words. The results of this study revealed that the concept of words expressing "comfort", "discomfort", "good house" and "bad house" differed according to individual's age and sex as well as neighborhood and type of house. The words selected for the evaluation of each individual's house differed according to the individual's satisfaction level, and words expressing feeling or sensation tended to be selected to express satisfaction.
