Adoption of ISO/TS 12913-2:2018 Protocols for Data Collection from Individuals in Soundscape Studies: An Overview of the Literature

The article reviews the literature on soundscape studies to analyse (i) which of the methods included in the Technical Specification (TS) 12913-2:2018 by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for collecting soundscape data from individuals are predominantly used in scientific research and (ii) what is the level of compliance with ISO recommendations of the methods employed in scientific research. Recent Findings The ISO/TS 12913-2:2018 provide three possible protocols for individuals’ soundscape data collection (Methods A, B, and C). Despite standardization efforts, a reference method has yet to be identified to improve comparability amongst studies and the formation of scientific evidence. Summary The analysis of 50 peer-reviewed papers published from 2018 (year of release of ISO/TS 12913-2) showed that Method A is the prevalent one, adopted by 94.4% of the identified studies. Full compliance with ISO technical specification recommendations is in any case quite limited, and almost no study is strictly adhering to them. Attributes are not always suitable to cover all the acoustic contexts (e.g. indoor environments). This is an indicator that the field is still developing, but it also signals that technical specification recommendations leave room for ambiguity or are not always implementable. This study is ultimately intended to offer recommendations on future development of the protocols in the standardization process.