Measurement Issues: Measuring Community Characteristics zy Me tho ds o f Measuring Comrnunit y Characteristics zy Jacqueline Barnes There is increasing interest in the influence of community characteristics on child development and family functioning. In order to address questions on community influence, it is important to be aware of the measures available and their strengths and limitations. Useful strategies have been developed within a number of disciplines, including sociology, social and community psychology, and criminology. Methods include summarising information from existing administrative databases and census data, conducting observations, and using survey instruments with residents. The most commonly used methods are reviewed and their psychometric properties described. zyxwvut Keywords: Community characteristics; measurement issues; psychological sense of community; social disorder Introduction zyxwvutsrqpon Strong theoretical reasons have been formulated for believing that structural and cultural dimensions of the community or neighbourhood are relevant to under- standing a number of developmental issues (Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Wilson, 1987). Community characteristics have been associated with substance abuse and delinquency (Simcha-Fagan & Schwartz, 1986), child abuse (Earls, McGuire, & Shay, 1994; Panel on Research on Child Abuse and Neglect, 1993), teenage pregnancy (Brooks-Gunn et al., 1993), and academic attainment (Duncan, Brooks-Gunn, & Klebanov, 1994). Relatedly, prevention and intervention projects are taking empower- ment or change at the neighbourhood or community level as their focus (Connell et al., 1995). However, many different methods are used to assess community charac- teristics, derived from varying theoretical backgrounds and disciplines. zyxwvutsrqpo As greater attention is being paid to the influence of community characteristics and to ways they can be targeted for change, the meaning and measurement of community needs to be examined (Heller, 1990). This review aims to highlight the diversity of measures of the community context and to indicate the strengths and weaknesses of each. Three types of measurement strategy will be reviewed : using population markers; conducting naturalistic observations; and using surveys with residents or key informants. Where available the psychometric properties of measures will be described and methodo- logical issues relevant to each strategy will be discussed. Definition of community The development of relevant and sensitive indicators at the community level poses numerous conceptual and methodological challenges. In particular a decision has to be made about what is meant by the term ‘community’ (Coulton, 1995). It becomes clear when reading the literature that there is little theoretical agreement about this. Several decades ago Hillery (1 964) noted 94 different definitions of community. He attributed the diversity of opinion to the existence of two camps : (I) advocates of a territorially based conception ofcommunity ; (2) advocates of a notion of community based on social network relationships. Such a large number of competing definitions suggests, however, that within each of these ‘camps’ there has been much debate, which continues to the present day. Willmott (1989) enlarged on Hillery’s distinction by proposing local and non-local types of both territorial and interest communities. He also suggested a third dimension, the ‘community of attachment’, which brings together density of social relationships and a sense of identity with a place or group. Most of the measures included in this review refer to community as a territory, but social and Child Psychology & Psychiatry Review Volume 2, No. 4, 1997 Jacqueline Barnes Senior Lecturer, Leopold Muller Universiry Deparrmenr of Child and Family Menral Health. Royal Free Hospiral School of Medicine. Rowland Hill Srreet, London NW3 2PF. and The Tavisrock Clinic. London 163