| Research Design: |
Project on Human Development in Chicago
Neighborhoods
The city of Chicago was selected as the
research site for the PHDCN because of its extensive racial, ethnic,
and social-class diversity. The project collapsed 847 census tracts in
the city of Chicago into 343 neighborhood clusters (NCs) based upon
seven groupings of racial/ethnic composition and three levels of
socioeconomic status. The NCs were designed to be ecologically
meaningful. They were composed of geographically contiguous census
tracts, and geographic boundaries and knowledge of Chicago's
neighborhoods were considered in the definition of the NCs. Each NC
was comprised of approximately 8,000 people.
Longitudinal Cohort Study
For the Longitudinal Cohort Study, a stratified probability sample
of 80 neighborhoods was selected. The 80 NCs were sampled from the 21
strata (seven racial/ethnic groups by three socioeconomic levels) with
the goal of representing the 21 cells as equally as possible to
eliminate the confounding between racial/ethnic mix and socioeconomic
status. Once the 80 NCs were chosen, then block groups were selected
at random within each of the sample neighborhoods. A complete listing
of dwelling units was collected for all sampled block groups. Pregnant
women, children, and young adults in seven age cohorts (birth, 3, 6,
9, 12, 15, and 18 years) were identified through in-person screening
of approximately 40,000 dwelling units within the 80 NCs. The
screening response rate was 80 percent. Children within six months of
the birthday that qualified them for the sample were selected for
inclusion in the Longitudinal Cohort Study. A total of 8,347
participants were identified through the screening. Of the eligible
study participants, 6,228 were interviewed.
For all cohorts except 0 and 18, primary caregivers as well as the
child were interviewed. The primary caregiver was the person found to
spend the most time taking care of the child. Separate research
assistants administered the primary caregiver interviews and the child
interviews. The primary method of data collection was face-to-face
interviewing, although participants who refused to complete the
personal interview were administered a phone interview. Interviews
were conducted in Spanish, English, and Polish. In Wave 1 the complete
protocol was translated into Spanish and Polish. An interpreter was
hired for participants who spoke a language other than English,
Spanish, or Polish. Depending on the age and wave of data collection,
participants were paid between $5 and $20 per interview. Other
incentives, such as free passes to museums, the aquarium, and monthly
drawing prizes were also included.
Interview protocols included a wide range of questions. For
example, some questions assessed impulse control and sensation-seeking
traits, cognitive and language development, leisure activities,
delinquency and substance abuse, friends' activities, and
self-perception, attitudes, and values. Caregivers were also
interviewed about family structure, parent characteristics,
parent-child relationships, parent discipline styles, family mental
health, and family history of criminal behavior and drug use.
Exposure to Violence (Primary Caregiver)
Completed between 1994 and 1997, the Exposure to Violence (ETV)
instrument was completed by the primary caregiver of subjects
belonging to Cohorts 3 to 15 of the PHDCN Longitudinal Cohort
Study. The ETV instrument was designed to assess the subject's
experience of exposure to four different types of violent acts. These
include: seeing someone shoved, kicked, or punched, seeing someone
attacked with a knife, hearing a gunshot, and seeing someone
shot. This measure also assessed the location and frequency of such
events, as well as the identification of victim(s) and/or
perpetrator(s), and the subject's relationship to that both (e.g.,
parent, friend, sibling, etc.). |
