Determination of Path Coefficients and Its Application in Road Traffic Noise Annoyance – a Theoretical Approach

This paper elucidates the basic approach of determining the path coefficients and its significance in the road traffic noise annoyance. Path model not only outline the direct effect of the traffic noise on the nearby residents but also indicate the indirect effect via other variables. In this study seven variables were considered for determining road traffic noise annoyance. However the same would be equally applicable for other situations like aircraft noise, rail noise, and industry noise with the different variables. At the outset a priori path model was designed and then on the basis of the partial regression coefficient values for the different paths, the revised path model was developed. The standardized partial regression coefficients known as path coefficients, determine the strength of the linkage among variables. Some of the paths in the model were not statistically significant. Revised path models were developed by deleting the insignificant paths whose values were found above 5% level. In the revised path model, thus the direct and indirect effect due to a particular variable causing the road traffic noise annoyance could be observed.