IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v70y2010i2p277-292.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Examining methodological details of neighbourhood observations and the relationship to health: A literature review

Author

Listed:
  • Schaefer-McDaniel, Nicole
  • O'Brien Caughy, Margaret
  • O'Campo, Patricia
  • Gearey, Wayne

Abstract

Neighbourhood research has been growing steadily over the past two decades across the social sciences, and, in particular in the area of public health. Despite this increase, there is currently no consensus on which measure and data source researchers should use to assess neighbourhood attributes. In the past, researchers have relied on census data and household surveys to assess neighbourhood conditions, but in recent years, neighbourhood observations have become a popular alternative method for characterizing neighbourhood environments. Rooted in sociology of crime research, observations are conducted by trained observers who use a checklist to observe and rate neighbourhoods on a number of conditions such as physical (e.g., traffic volume, housing conditions) and social (e.g., presence of people, gang activity) attributes. While this methodology has been gaining momentum in recent years, notably absent from the literature is a review to examine this methodology in detail. The purpose of the present study was to examine research that has used neighbourhood observations as a method. We do so by critically reviewing 51 English language studies published from 1990 onward paying particular attention to the areas of (1) methodological rigor (i.e. how observations are carried out in the field and how data are analyzed), (2) geographical boundaries (i.e. how neighbourhoods and areas of observation are spatially defined), and (3) the relationship between neighbourhood observations and residents' health (i.e. how studies examine and analyze the link between observed neighbourhood attributes and health). We find that little attention is given to details of neighbourhood observations as a method. Further, there is wide variability in how observations are conducted and analyzed making it impossible to confidently compare findings across studies. We see this review as a first step in developing sound observational measures of neighbourhood factors and conclude by providing recommendations for researchers undertaking neighbourhood observations in the future.

Suggested Citation

  • Schaefer-McDaniel, Nicole & O'Brien Caughy, Margaret & O'Campo, Patricia & Gearey, Wayne, 2010. "Examining methodological details of neighbourhood observations and the relationship to health: A literature review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(2), pages 277-292, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:70:y:2010:i:2:p:277-292
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277-9536(09)00694-7
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. James McDonell, 2007. "Neighborhood Characteristics, Parenting, and Children’s Safety," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 83(1), pages 177-199, August.
    2. Cohen, D. & Spear, S. & Scribner, R. & Kissinger, P. & Mason, K. & Wildgen, J., 2000. "'Broken windows' and the risk of gonorrhea," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 90(2), pages 230-236.
    3. Curtis, Lori J. & Dooley, Martin D. & Phipps, Shelley A., 2004. "Child well-being and neighbourhood quality: evidence from the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 58(10), pages 1917-1927, May.
    4. Macintyre, Sally & Ellaway, Anne & Cummins, Steven, 2002. "Place effects on health: how can we conceptualise, operationalise and measure them?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 55(1), pages 125-139, July.
    5. O'Campo, P. & Xue, X. & Wang, M.-C. & Brien Caughy, M.O., 1997. "Neighborhood risk factors for low birthweight in Baltimore: A multilevel analysis," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 87(7), pages 1113-1118.
    6. Giles-Corti, Billie & Donovan, Robert J., 2002. "The relative influence of individual, social and physical environment determinants of physical activity," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 54(12), pages 1793-1812, June.
    7. Haynes, Robin & Reading, Richard & Gale, Susan, 2003. "Household and neighbourhood risks for injury to 5-14 year old children," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 57(4), pages 625-636, August.
    8. Caughy, Margaret O'Brien & O'Campo, Patricia J. & Muntaner, Carles, 2003. "When being alone might be better: neighborhood poverty, social capital, and child mental health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 57(2), pages 227-237, July.
    9. Leventhal, T. & Brooks-Gunn, J., 2003. "Moving to Oppurtunity: An Experimental Study of Neighborhood Effects on Mental Health," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 93(9), pages 1576-1582.
    10. Brownson, R.C. & Chang, J.J. & Eyler, A.A. & Ainsworth, B.E. & Kirtland, K.A. & Saelens, B.E. & Sallis, J.F., 2004. "Measuring the Environment for Friendliness Toward Physical Activity: A Comparison of the Reliability of 3 Questionnaires," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 94(3), pages 473-483.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Steffen Andreas Schüle & Gabriele Bolte, 2015. "Interactive and Independent Associations between the Socioeconomic and Objective Built Environment on the Neighbourhood Level and Individual Health: A Systematic Review of Multilevel Studies," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(4), pages 1-31, April.
    2. Motoc, Irina & Hoogendijk, Emiel O. & Timmermans, Erik J. & Deeg, Dorly & Penninx, Brenda W.J.H. & Huisman, Martijn, 2023. "Social and physical neighbourhood characteristics and 10-year incidence of depression and anxiety in older adults: Results from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 327(C).
    3. Schaefer-McDaniel, Nicole & Dunn, James R. & Minian, Nadia & Katz, Danielle, 2010. "Rethinking measurement of neighborhood in the context of health research," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(4), pages 651-656, August.
    4. Su, Shiliang & Zhou, Hao & Xu, Mengya & Ru, Hu & Wang, Wen & Weng, Min, 2019. "Auditing street walkability and associated social inequalities for planning implications," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 62-76.
    5. James McDonell & Tracy Waters, 2011. "Construction and Validation of an Observational Scale of Neighborhood Characteristics," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 104(3), pages 439-457, December.
    6. Katherine E. King, 2015. "A Comparison of Two Methods for Measuring Land Use in Public Health Research," SAGE Open, , vol. 5(2), pages 21582440155, June.
    7. Scott Orford & Charlotte Leigh, 2014. "The Relationship between Self-reported Definitions of Urban Neighbourhood and Respondent Characteristics: A Study of Cardiff, UK," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 51(9), pages 1891-1908, July.
    8. Teck Hong Tan & Ji Hei Lee, 2022. "Residential environment, third places and well-being in Malaysian older adults," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 162(2), pages 721-738, July.
    9. Neutens, Tijs, 2015. "Accessibility, equity and health care: review and research directions for transport geographers," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 14-27.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Stafford, Mai & Cummins, Steven & Ellaway, Anne & Sacker, Amanda & Wiggins, Richard D. & Macintyre, Sally, 2007. "Pathways to obesity: Identifying local, modifiable determinants of physical activity and diet," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(9), pages 1882-1897, November.
    2. Reading, Richard & Jones, Andrew & Haynes, Robin & Daras, Konstantinos & Emond, Alan, 2008. "Individual factors explain neighbourhood variations in accidents to children under 5 years of age," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(6), pages 915-927, September.
    3. Nicoleta Cutumisu & John C. Spence, 2012. "Sport Fields as Potential Catalysts for Physical Activity in the Neighbourhood," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-21, January.
    4. Franzini, Luisa & Caughy, Margaret & Spears, William & Eugenia Fernandez Esquer, Maria, 2005. "Neighborhood economic conditions, social processes, and self-rated health in low-income neighborhoods in Texas: A multilevel latent variables model," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(6), pages 1135-1150, September.
    5. McNeill, Lorna Haughton & Kreuter, Matthew W. & Subramanian, S.V., 2006. "Social Environment and Physical activity: A review of concepts and evidence," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(4), pages 1011-1022, August.
    6. Semaan, Salaam & Sternberg, Maya & Zaidi, Akbar & Aral, Sevgi O., 2007. "Social capital and rates of gonorrhea and syphilis in the United States: Spatial regression analyses of state-level associations," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(11), pages 2324-2341, June.
    7. Pengxiang Zhao & Mei-Po Kwan & Suhong Zhou, 2018. "The Uncertain Geographic Context Problem in the Analysis of the Relationships between Obesity and the Built Environment in Guangzhou," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-20, February.
    8. Shortt, S. E. D., 2004. "Making sense of social capital, health and policy," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 11-22, October.
    9. Fan, Yingling & Chen, Qian, 2012. "Family functioning as a mediator between neighborhood conditions and children's health: Evidence from a national survey in the United States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(12), pages 1939-1947.
    10. Wen, Ming & Hawkley, Louise C. & Cacioppo, John T., 2006. "Objective and perceived neighborhood environment, individual SES and psychosocial factors, and self-rated health: An analysis of older adults in Cook County, Illinois," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(10), pages 2575-2590, November.
    11. Manuela Peters & Tiara Ratz & Frauke Wichmann & Sonia Lippke & Claudia Voelcker-Rehage & Claudia R. Pischke, 2022. "Ecological Predictors of Older Adults’ Participation and Retention in a Physical Activity Intervention," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-25, March.
    12. James Dollman & Melissa Hull & Nicole Lewis & Suzanne Carroll & Dorota Zarnowiecki, 2016. "Regional Differences in Correlates of Daily Walking among Middle Age and Older Australian Rural Adults: Implications for Health Promotion," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, January.
    13. Abada, Teresa & Hou, Feng & Ram, Bali, 2007. "Racially mixed neighborhoods, perceived neighborhood social cohesion, and adolescent health in Canada," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(10), pages 2004-2017, November.
    14. Dick Saarloos & Jae-Eun Kim & Harry Timmermans, 2009. "The Built Environment and Health: Introducing Individual Space-Time Behavior," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 6(6), pages 1-20, May.
    15. Wen, Ming & Cagney, Kathleen A. & Christakis, Nicholas A., 2005. "Effect of specific aspects of community social environment on the mortality of Individuals diagnosed with serious illness," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(6), pages 1119-1134, September.
    16. Jonathan R. Olsen & Ruth Dundas & Anne Ellaway, 2017. "Are Changes in Neighbourhood Perceptions Associated with Changes in Self-Rated Mental Health in Adults? A 13-Year Repeat Cross-Sectional Study, UK," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-15, November.
    17. Bell, Janice F. & Zimmerman, Frederick J. & Almgren, Gunnar R. & Mayer, Jonathan D. & Huebner, Colleen E., 2006. "Birth outcomes among urban African-American women: A multilevel analysis of the role of racial residential segregation," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(12), pages 3030-3045, December.
    18. Giulia El-Dardiry & Christine Dimitrakaki & Chara Tzavara & Ulrike Ravens-Sieberer & Yannis Tountas, 2012. "Child Health-Related Quality of Life and Parental Social Capital in Greece: An Exploratory Study," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 105(1), pages 75-92, January.
    19. Bethany M. Wood & Catherine Cubbin & Esmeralda J. Rubalcava Hernandez & Diana M. DiNitto & Shetal Vohra-Gupta & Philip Baiden & Elizabeth J. Mueller, 2023. "The Price of Growing Up in a Low-Income Neighborhood: A Scoping Review of Associated Depressive Symptoms and Other Mood Disorders among Children and Adolescents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(19), pages 1-25, October.
    20. Adriana Loureiro & Paula Santana & Carla Nunes & Ricardo Almendra, 2019. "The Role of Individual and Neighborhood Characteristics on Mental Health after a Period of Economic Crisis in the Lisbon Region (Portugal): A Multilevel Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(15), pages 1-16, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:70:y:2010:i:2:p:277-292. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.