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Challenges in conducting natural experiments in parks - lessons from the REVAMP study
Veitch, Jenny Salmon, Jo Giles-Corti, Billie Crawford, David Dullaghan, Kate Carver, Alison Timperio, Anna
Veitch, Jenny
Salmon, Jo
Giles-Corti, Billie
Crawford, David
Dullaghan, Kate
Carver, Alison
Timperio, Anna
Abstract
Experimental evidence on the role of the built environment for promoting physical activity is important for informing how to create cities that promote active living. Parks provide opportunities for physical activity, however, there is little robust evidence on the impact of park refurbishment. Government agencies often modify parks, providing opportunities for natural experiment studies of these interventions. Such an opportunity was provided by the modification of a large park in Victoria, Australia in 2013 when the Recording and EValuating Activity in a Modified Park (REVAMP) study was established. Based on insights from the REVAMP study, this paper discusses challenges involved in conducting natural experiments in park settings, focussing on issues that may help design more effective future evaluations of the impact of park refurbishment. Natural experiments offer unique opportunities to evaluate the impact of large-scale changes to the built environment. They provide valuable data that might not otherwise be possible to gather, because of the costs associated with modification of the environment. However, factors beyond the control of the study team contribute to the complexity of both organising and conducting natural experiments, with potential flow-on effects to the quality of data. Therefore many extraneous factors need to be considered when designing, costing and conducting natural experiments, studies should identify opportunities to include key partners from the inception of the project, be flexible yet robust, and allow sufficient funding to accommodate unexpected changes in the research protocol.
Keywords
natural experiment, parks, challenges, methodology
Date
2017
Type
Journal article
Journal
International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity
Book
Volume
14
Issue
1
Page Range
1-6
Article Number
ACU Department
Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research
Faculty of Health Sciences
Faculty of Health Sciences
Collections
Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
Open access
License
CC BY 4.0
File Access
Open