Browsing by Subject "Cities"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Assessing the Built Environment Using Omnidirectional Imagery
    (Elsevier, 2012) Wilson, Jeffrey S.; Kelly, Cheryl M.; Schootman, Mario; Baker, Elizabeth A.; Banerjee, Aniruddha; Clennin, Morgan; Miller, Douglas K.; Geography, School of Liberal Arts
    Observational audits commonly are used in public health research to collect data on built environment characteristics that affect health-related behaviors and outcomes, including physical activity and weight status. However, implementing in-person field audits can be expensive if observations are needed over large or geographically dispersed areas or at multiple points in time. A reliable and more efficient method for observational audits could facilitate extendibility (i.e., expanded geographic and temporal scope) and lead to more standardized assessment that strengthens the ability to compare results across different regions and studies. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the degree of agreement between field audits and audits derived from interpretation of three types of omnidirectional imagery. Street segments from St. Louis MO and Indianapolis IN were stratified geographically to ensure representation of neighborhoods with different socioeconomic characteristics in both cities. Audits were conducted in 2008 and 2009 using four methods: field audits, and interpretation of archived imagery, new imagery, and Google Street View™ imagery. Agreement between field audits and image-based audits was assessed using observed agreement and the prevalence-adjusted bias-adjusted kappa statistic (PABAK). Data analysis was conducted in 2010. When measuring the agreement between field audits and audits from the different sources of imagery, the mean PABAK statistic for all items on the instrument was 0.78 (archived); 0.80 (new); and 0.81 (Street View imagery), indicating substantial to nearly perfect agreement among methods. It was determined that image-based audits represent a reliable method that can be used in place of field audits to measure several key characteristics of the built environment important to public health research.
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    Indianapolis Event Tourism: Culture and sport perspectives
    (Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2011-04-08) King, C.; Hji-Avgoustis, S.; Wang, S.
    Cities rely on urban tourism for economic regeneration and strategic development (Ioannides & Peterson, 2003; Law, 2002; Rogerson, 2004). Depending on how it is calculated, tourism is Indianapolis’s third- or fourth-largest industry, with an estimated economic impact of about $3.56 billion a year. Cultural and sports activities that are attractive to special event attendees include: sports events, festivals or fairs, group tours, trade shows, and cultural attractions, such as museums, plays, concerts, etc. The purpose of the study was to investigate Indianapolis residents’ perceptions of the importance of event tourism, via culture and sports, and their willingness to sustain each segment using public financing. A total of 16 urban cultural tourism development attributes and 16 sports tourism development attributes were adapted from a study by Wang, Fu, Cecil, and Hji-Avgoustis (2008). The 16 items were measured on a fivepoint Likert scale ranging from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree”. Data was collected in September 2010 via convenience sampling in eight pre-selected locations in Indianapolis. Several sports and cultural events such as the Irish festival and a canoe regatta had been held in those locations. A total of 380 surveys were used for analysis. This is a case study and the generalizability of the findings is limited. Based on the paired sample t-tests, residents’ perceptions about sports tourism vs cultural tourism were significantly different on 13 of the 16 items. The biggest discrepancies of mean ratings were found in pair 1 (accomplishment awareness), pair 10 (related offerings awareness), pair 2 (city plans awareness) and pair 3 (potential to succeed). For these four pairs, sport items were more positively perceived than cultural items. There was moderate correlation between ‘accomplishment awareness’ and ‘potential to succeed’, ‘accomplishment awareness’ and ‘positive image creation’, and ‘accomplishment awareness’ and ‘good for economy’ in terms of both cultural tourism and sport tourism. The results indicate that more accomplishments achieved by the city, either in cultural tourism or sport tourism, may more likely make residents feel and acknowledge the importance and benefit of cultural tourism and sport tourism development and thus become more positive in supporting tourism or sport-related initiatives. As for city event tourism planners, one important task may be to make known to the public every achievement made in the areas of cultural and sports tourism. Coccossis (2009) described a qualitative shift in tourist demand where education, culture and activities which engage the visitor in local events and lifestyle are gaining importance. Hence in planning for the future, Indianapolis could pre-emptively provide a relatively richer diversity of cultural offerings in comparison to sports offerings, to carve a competitive edge to meet the evolving demands of visitor experiences.
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    Observer ratings of neighborhoods: comparison of two methods
    (Springer Nature, 2013-10-29) Andresen, Elena M.; Malmstrom, Theodore K.; Schootman, Mario; Wolinsky, Fredric D.; Miller, J. Philip; Miller, Douglas K.; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Background: Although neighborhood characteristics have important relationships with health outcomes, direct observation involves imperfect measurement. The African American Health (AAH) study included two observer neighborhood rating systems (5-item Krause and 18-item AAH Neighborhood Assessment Scale [NAS]), initially fielded at two different waves. Good measurement characteristics were previously shown for both, but there was more rater variability than desired. In 2010 both measures were re-fielded together, with enhanced training and field methods implemented to decrease rater variability while maintaining psychometric properties. Methods: AAH included a poor inner city and more heterogeneous suburban areas. Four interviewers rated 483 blocks, with 120 randomly-selected blocks rated by two interviewers. We conducted confirmatory factor analysis of scales and tested the Krause (5-20 points), AAH 18-item NAS (0-28 points), and a previous 7-item and new 5-item versions of the NAS (0-17 points, 0-11 points). Retest reliability for items (kappa) and scales (Intraclass Correlation Coefficient [ICC]) were calculated overall and among pre-specified subgroups. Linear regression assessed interviewer effects on total scale scores and assessed concurrent validity on lung and lower body functions. Mismeasurement effects on self-rated health were also assessed. Results: Scale scores were better in the suburbs than in the inner city. ICC was poor for the Krause scale (ICC=0.19), but improved if the retests occurred within 10 days (ICC=0.49). The 7- and 5-item NAS scales had better ICCs (0.56 and 0.62, respectively), and were higher (0.71 and 0.73) within 10 days. Rater variability for the Kraus and 5- and 7-item NAS scales was 1-3 points (compared to the supervising rater). Concurrent validity was modest, with residents living in worse neighborhood conditions having worse function. Unadjusted estimates were biased towards the null compared with measurement-error corrected estimates. Conclusions: Enhanced field protocols and rater training did not improve measurement quality. Specifically, retest reliability and interviewer variability remained problematic. Measurement error partially reduced, but did not eliminate concurrent validity, suggesting there are robust associations between neighborhood characteristics and health outcomes. We conclude that the 5-item AAH NAS has sufficient reliability and validity for further use. Additional research on the measurement properties of environmental rating methods is encouraged.