Assessing the Reliability and Validity of Safe Routes to School Surveys
Author Information
Author(s): McDonald Noreen C, Dwelley Amanda E, Combs Tabitha S, Evenson Kelly R, Winters Richard H
Primary Institution: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Hypothesis
The study aims to assess the reliability and validity of the U.S. National Center for Safe Routes to School's in-class student travel tallies and written parent surveys.
Conclusion
The student travel tally showed high reliability and validity, while the parent survey had high reliability for travel mode questions but lower reliability for attitudinal questions.
Supporting Evidence
- The student travel tally showed high test-retest reliability with kappa statistics of 0.86 and 0.85 for trips to and from school.
- Parent-student convergent validity of school travel mode was high, with 87 - 88% agreement.
- Reliability for parent surveys was high for objective questions but lower for attitudinal questions.
Takeaway
This study checked if surveys about how kids get to school are accurate, and found that the student surveys are really good, but the parent surveys need some work.
Methodology
The study involved students and parents from two elementary schools in Charlotte, NC, using hand-raising protocols for student travel tallies and comparing parent and student reports.
Potential Biases
Potential confusion among parents and students regarding travel mode classifications.
Limitations
The study had a low proportion of walking and biking in the sample and variations in survey administration methods.
Participant Demographics
Students from two elementary schools with varying socioeconomic statuses; School A had 13% economically disadvantaged students, while School B had 85%.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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