It also appears that the list of actives obtained from knowledgeables contributes significant information on the boundary of the neighborhood, since the fact that a knowledgeable cannot produce names of actives in a given area seems to indicate that that area is out of the neighborhood. More thought needed on meanings and connections Now that we know people will talk about their connections to their area, and about the meaning of their place, more attention needs to be given to the type of data to be elicited from the interviews. The literature is not yet settled on how to categorize the meanings of place. Williams mentions two possible ways to sort people's meanings about place. The emotionality dimension of meaning is largely associated with arousal and intensity or depth of attachment.
Commonality refers to the degree to which meanings are shared versus highly individualized.
Our method is closest to that of Fournier. However, we did not force the distinction. We also allowed people to state the emotional content of that connection, but did not attempt to quanitify those emotions. Therefore, people who were uncomfortable expressing emotions, but who clearly had emotional attacliments, often understated their feeling. Finally, our methodology aimed to find out if boundaries were as common in the Lake Superior basin as they apparently were in the Applegate valley.