Citation

Zenk SN, Schulz AJ, Mentz G, House JS, Gravlee CC, Miranda PY, Miller P, Kannan S. Health Place 2007; 13(2): 452-465.

Affiliation

Department of Public Health, Mental Health, and Administrative Nursing, University of Illinois at Chicago College of Nursing, 845 S Damen Ave, M/C 802, Chicago, IL 60608, USA. szenk@uic.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.healthplace.2006.05.003

PMID

16809060

Abstract

The popularity of direct or systematic social observation as a method to evaluate the mechanisms by which neighborhood environments impact health and contribute to health disparities is growing. The development of measures with adequate inter-rater and test-retest reliability is essential for this research. In this paper, based on our experiences conducting direct observation of neighborhoods in Detroit, MI, we describe strategies to promote high inter-rater and test-retest reliability and methods to evaluate reliability. We then present the results and discuss implications for future research efforts using direct observation in four areas: methods to evaluate reliability, instrument content and design, observer training, and data collection.

Language: en