Open Data, Place-Based Research, and Getting the Measures We Need To Ask the Right Questions

The internet offers unprecedented access to geographically precise information, from governmental administrative records to consumer-facing products like Google Street View. Though typically free to access, these data are frequently not directly interpretable as measures of the key constructs of researcher interest. Using freely available secondary data in place of primary data collection can be efficient, but it shifts the skill set researchers need from field logistics to assembling and validating measures from secondary data. This presentation discussed approaches and useful tools for constructing measures of place from secondary data, including “ecometrics” (using psychometric techniques to build place-based scales), spatial interpolation, and assessing and correcting for sampling biases in crowdsourced data.

A recording of this webinar is available. Visit the NIH website to view the webinar.