assessing reliability of participant self-report for access to neighborhood facilities

• Naa Oyo A. Kwate (Sociomedical Sciences)
• Awarded:  Spring 2008

Increasing attention has turned to the role of neighborhood context in population health, with research on area-based socioeconomic indicators, characteristics of the built environment (e.g., sprawl) and access to facilities and other resources that affect health. Although some studies ask participants to report the availability of varied environmental supports, there is some evidence that self-reports may not be optimal for reliability. This study investigates the accuracy of participant self-report about proximity of neighborhood features compared to the gold standard of GIS.  It assesses whether participant accuracy varies as a function of question format.  And it assesses whether participant reports are internally consistent in response to different question formats.