Examining methodological details of neighbourhood observations and the relationship to health: a literature review.
Examining methodological details of neighbourhood observations and the relationship to health: a literature review.
复制标题
DOI：
10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.10.018
复制
发表时间：
2010
影响因子：
5.4
通讯作者：
Nicole J. Schaefer-McDaniel;M. Caughy;P. O’Campo;Wayne Gearey
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Nicole J. Schaefer-McDaniel;M. Caughy;P. O’Campo;Wayne Gearey
在过去的二十年里，社区研究在社会科学领域稳步发展，特别是在公共卫生领域。尽管这种增长，目前还没有共识的措施和数据来源的研究人员应该使用评估邻里属性。过去，研究人员依靠人口普查数据和家庭调查来评估邻里状况，但近年来，邻里观察已成为表征邻里环境的一种流行的替代方法。基于犯罪研究的社会学，观察是由训练有素的观察员进行的，他们使用检查表来观察和评价社区的一些条件，如物理（如交通量，住房条件）和社会（如人的存在，帮派活动）属性。虽然这种方法近年来一直在获得动力，但值得注意的是，文献中没有详细检查这种方法的综述。本研究的目的是检验以邻里观察为方法的研究。为此，我们通过批判性地回顾1990年以来发表的51篇英语研究，特别关注以下领域：(1)方法严谨性（即如何在实地进行观察以及如何分析数据），(2)地理边界（即如何在空间上定义邻里和观察区域），(3)邻里观察与居民健康之间的关系（即研究如何检验和分析观察到的邻里属性与健康之间的联系）。我们发现很少关注邻里观察作为一种方法的细节。此外，在如何进行观察和分析方面存在很大的可变性，因此不可能自信地比较不同研究的结果。我们认为这篇综述是开发邻里因素可靠观测措施的第一步，并为未来进行邻里观测的研究人员提供建议。
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.