Abstract
The purpose of this survey is to investigate the cognitive structure of “clothing” using social network analysis techniques. A cognitive system of interconnected words or concepts for “clothing was described as patterns of ties (links) among words (nodes) . A free format ques-tionnaire consisted of two questions about “clothing”: (1) “What is clothing for you?” and (2) “What is clothing for human life?” There were two respondent groups of female students: One is a group of students studying apparel science. Another is a group of students studying other than apparel science. The cognitive network structures of “clothing” were assessed from results of input-output analysis and the graph theoretical analysis. About question (1), individual interests in “clothing” such as self-expression, pleasure, dress-up and so on were main components of “clothing”, but about question (2), fundamental functions of clothing, cultural and social aspects as well as individual interests were interconnected.
