Build on studies from other countries

The IPEN initiative aims to share information and resources between research groups in different countries. However, countries are different. Our meetings with IPEN members have highlighted the need for measures and methods that are relevant to each country’s particular cultures, settings and data sources.

Our main experience so far has been in adapting the methods and measures from the Neighborhood Quality of Life Study (NQLS; conducted in Seattle and Baltimore, USA), for use in the Physical Activity in Localities and Community Environments Study (PLACE; conducted in Adelaide, Australia).

What are the important lessons from the NQLS-to-PLACE experiences?

• We were successful in implementing the NQLS spatial study design, balancing high and low walkability with higher and lower socio-economic areas, in the Australian setting.


• We were able to subtract from, add to, and modify the Neighborhood Environment Walking Scale (NEWS) items for use in the Australia setting, where we do not have ‘condominiums’, we have ‘blocks of flats’; we have no ‘sidewalks’, we have ‘footpaths’; etc.; importantly, we employed the majority of the NEWS scale items and can now make close comparisons between the USA and the Australia findings.


• The Adelaide GIS databases, while different from those available for Seattle and Baltimore, nevertheless allowed us to create an Australian ‘walkability’ index, that corresponded very closely to that created for use in the USA cities.


• While we did not absolutely ‘duplicate’ to the last detail the NQLS methods and measures, we feel that we have a strong ‘replication’; most of the measures and methods are the same between the two studies; the differences relate to specific local attributes and to the resources available, particularly in the GIS databases.

Try, where it is practical to do so, to use the IPEN methods and measures. Where it is necessary, practical and sensible to do so, adopt these materials to suit your culture and context.

A European collaboration for this is beginning to be established. Please contact Ilse De Bourdeaudhuij for more details.

Please provide us with more details of your own experiences of translating this research methodology into your own country and culture. We can then provide IPEN members with case studies to learn from.

Other Methods Backgrounds