Identification of Asian Garments in Small Museums
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AN ABSTRACTOF THE THESIS OF Alison E. Kondo for the degree ofMaster ofScience in Apparel Interiors, Housing and Merchandising presented on June 7, 2000. Title: Identification ofAsian Garments in Small Museums. Redacted for privacy Abstract approved: Elaine Pedersen The frequent misidentification ofAsian garments in small museum collections indicated the need for a garment identification system specifically for use in differentiating the various forms ofAsian clothing. The decision tree system proposed in this thesis is intended to provide an instrument to distinguish the clothing styles ofJapan, China, Korea, Tibet, and northern Nepal which are found most frequently in museum clothing collections. The first step ofthe decision tree uses the shape ofthe neckline to distinguish the garment's country oforigin. The second step ofthe decision tree uses the sleeve shape to determine factors such as the gender and marital status ofthe wearer, and the formality level ofthe garment. The decision tree instrument was tested with a sample population of 10 undergraduates representing volunteer docents and 4 graduate students representing curators ofa small museum. The subjects were asked to determine the country oforigin, the original wearer's gender and marital status, and the garment's formality and function, as appropriate. The test was successful in identifying the country oforigin ofall 12 Asian garments and had less successful results for the remaining variables. Copyright by Alison E. Kondo June 7, 2000 All rights Reserved Identification ofAsian Garments in Small Museums by Alison E. Kondo A THESIS submitted to Oregon State University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master ofScience Presented June 7, 2000 Commencement June 2001 Master of Science thesis ofAlison E. Kondo presented on June 7, 2000 APPROVED: Redacted for privacy Major Professor, representing Apparel, Interiors, Housing, and Merchandising Redacted for privacy HeadofDep e ofApparel, Interiors, Housing, and Merchandising Redacted for privacy I understand that my thesis will become part ofthe permanent collection ofOregon State University libraries. My signature below authorizes release ofmy thesis to any reader upon request. Redacted for privacy Alison E Kondo, Author ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Dr. Elaine Pedersen for her advice and support throughout the thesis process; Jeff Kondo for his support and patience; Mr. C.R. Parrott and Mr. Sebastien Patrick for their persistent assistance. TABLE OF CONTENTS I INTRODUCTION..............................................................................1 Statement ofthe Problem .....................................................................4 Hypotheses........................................................................" ............ 4 AssUIllptions....................................................................................5 Limitations.............................................................., ....................... 5 General Defmitions ............................................................................6 II REVIEW OF LITERATURE................................................................9 Euro-American Decision Tree Systems ...................................................9 Asian Decision Tree Systems ..............................................................12 Garment Descriptions .......................................................................13 Japanese Clothing ....................................,..............................., ... 13 Ainu Clothing ........,.,'" " ... , ..................................,.........., ........... 22 Chinese Clothing, ....,..................,................" ...............................25 Korean Clothing ..........................................................................37 Clothing in the Himalayan Regions ofTibet and Northern Nepal .................40 Summary ...........................................................................................45 III METHOD.....................................................................................46 Decision Tree Development ...............................................................46 Reliability.....................................................................................48 Validity........................................................................................48 Sample.........................................................................................49 Asian Garments SaIIlple......,.........................., .. , ..............................49 Test Subjects SaIIlple......................................................................51 TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued) Pilot Test .......................................................................................52 Data Collection Procedure ...................................................................53 Data Analysis ..................................................................................55 IV RESULTS....................................................................................56 Undergraduate Responses ..................................................................56 Garment Number One ...................................................................57 Garment Number Two ..................................................................58 Garment Number Three .................................................................60 Garment Number Four ..................................................................62 Garment Number Five ..................................................................63 Garment Number Six ....................................................................65 Garment Number Seven .................................................................67 Garment Number Eight ..................................................................68 Garment Number Nine ..................................................,...............70 Garment Number Ten.................................................................... 71 Garment Number Eleven .................;..............................................72 Garment Number Twelve ...............................................,...............73 Summary ofUndergraduate Responses ...................................................75 Graduate Student Responses ............................................-................., .. 77 Garment Number One ....................................................................77 Garment Number Two ...................................................................79 Garment Number Three ..................................................................80 Garment Number Four................................................................... 82 Garment Number Five ..........................................,........................83 Garment Number Six..................................................................... 85 Garment Number Seven.................................. ,.........................." ..87 Garment Number Eight .................................................: .......:........88 Garment Number Nine ..................................................................89 Garment Number Ten ....................................................................90 Gan:nent Number Eleven ................................................................91 Garment Number Twelve ...........................................:...................92 Accuracy ofGraduate Responses ..........................................................93 TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued) Summary.......................................................................................94 v SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS .......................................................96 Summary and Discussion ....................................................................96 Limitations..........................................." .. , ..........,........................100 Recommendations...........................................................................101 Conclusion................,....................,.........................................,....102 BIBLIOGRAPHy...............................................................................103 APPENDICES...................................................................................110 Appendix 1 Test Instrument ...............................................................111 Appendix 2 Questionnaire .................................................................153 LIST OF TABLES 1. Garment Number One Undergraduate Results ....................................................58 2. Garment Number Two Under graduate Results .......................................................59 3. Garment Number Three Undergraduate Results ......................................................61 4. Garment Number Four Undergraduate Results ........................................................63 5. Garment Number Five Undergra'duate Results .......................................................65 6. Garment Number Six Undergraduate Results ..........................................................66 7. Garment Number Seven Undergraduate Results ......................................................68 8. Garment Number Eight Undergraduate Results .......................................................69 9. Garment Number Nine Undergraduate Results ........................................................71 10 Garment Number Ten Undergraduate