title: A Reliable, Feasible Method to Observe Neighborhoods at High Spatial Resolution.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Systematic social observation (SSO) methods traditionally measure neighborhoods at street level and have been performed reliably using virtual applications to increase feasibility. Research indicates that collection at even higher spatial resolution may better elucidate the health impact of neighborhood factors, but whether virtual applications can reliably capture social determinants of health at the smallest geographic resolution (parcel level) remains uncertain. This paper presents a novel, parcel-level SSO methodology and assesses whether this new method can be collected reliably using Google Street View and is feasible.
  
  
  METHODS
  Multiple raters (N=5) observed 42 neighborhoods. In 2016, inter-rater reliability (observed agreement and kappa coefficient) was compared for four SSO methods: (1) street-level in person; (2) street-level virtual; (3) parcel-level in person; and (4) parcel-level virtual. Intra-rater reliability (observed agreement and kappa coefficient) was calculated to determine whether parcel-level methods produce results comparable to traditional street-level observation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Substantial levels of inter-rater agreement were documented across all four methods; all methods had >70% of items with at least substantial agreement. Only physical decay showed higher levels of agreement (83% of items with >75% agreement) for direct versus virtual rating source. Intra-rater agreement comparing street- versus parcel-level methods resulted in observed agreement >75% for all but one item (90%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results support the use of Google Street View as a reliable, feasible tool for performing SSO at the smallest geographic resolution. Validation of a new parcel-level method collected virtually may improve the assessment of social determinants contributing to disparities in health behaviors and outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Behavioral and Community Health Sciences Department, School of Public Health, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, Louisiana. Electronic address: mmohle@lsuhsc.edu.
authors.forename: Maura M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Kepper
authors.affiliation: Behavioral and Community Health Sciences Department, School of Public Health, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, Louisiana.
authors.forename: Melinda S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Sothern
authors.affiliation: Global Community Health and Behavioral Sciences, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana.
authors.forename: Katherine P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Theall
authors.affiliation: Behavioral and Community Health Sciences Department, School of Public Health, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, Louisiana.
authors.forename: Lauren A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Griffiths
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, Louisiana.
authors.forename: Richard A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Scribner
authors.affiliation: Behavioral and Community Health Sciences Department, School of Public Health, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, Louisiana.
authors.forename: Tung-Sung
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Tseng
authors.affiliation: Global Community Health and Behavioral Sciences, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Schaettle
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana.
authors.forename: Jessica M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Cwik
authors.affiliation: Global Community Health and Behavioral Sciences, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana.
authors.forename: Erica
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Felker-Kantor
authors.affiliation: Contextual Risk Factors Laboratory, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
authors.forename: Stephanie T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Broyles
mesh_terms: D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D040362:Geographic Information Systems; D015438:Health Behavior; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D015588:Observer Variation; D063868:Patient Outcome Assessment; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D064890:Social Determinants of Health; D062206:Spatial Analysis