Surveys Measuring Wellbeing
Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods
Description    The Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN) is a major, interdisciplinary study aimed at deepening society's understanding of the causes and pathways of juvenile delinquency, adult crime, substance abuse, and violence.

The Project is unique in both size and scope, combining two studies into a single, comprehensive design. The first is an intensive study of Chicago's neighborhoods—their social, economic, organizational, political, and cultural structures, and the dynamic changes that take place in these structures over the study's eight years. The second is a series of coordinated longitudinal studies that will follow up to 7,000 randomly selected children, adolescents, and young adults, looking at the changing circumstances of their lives, as well as the personal characteristics, that may lead them toward or away from a variety of antisocial behaviors.  The study centers on violent crime and substance abuse, but also encompasses the many forms of juvenile delinquency and adult crime, from shoplifting to securities fraud.   More recently, the Project has added two new elements to the investigation: a study of children's exposure to violence and its consequences, and a study on child care and its impact on early child development.  Surveys focus on diverse topics, including mental health, childcare, cognition, school climate, employment and unstructured time.

By looking at individuals and their communities—and individuals in their communities—as both change over time, the Project seeks to unravel the complex influences of community, family, and individual factors on human development. Why does one community have a high rate of crime, violence, and substance abuse, while a similar community nearby is relatively safe? What factors enable some individuals to live successful, productive lives, even in high-risk neighborhoods? Why does one young person experiment only briefly with delinquency, while another goes on to a "criminal career"?

*Note:  the material in this section is taken directly from an earlier version of the PHDCN Project Overview web-page:  http://phdcn.harvard.edu/about/about.html
 

Waves/Rounds   There have been three waves of the longitudinal study; Wave 1 was conducted in 1995-1997, Wave 2 in 1997-1999, and Wave 3 in 2000-2001.  At least four waves are planned, with an optional fifth wave of data collection.  Earlier, the project designers had planned that  Wave 4 woudl be fielded in 2000-2001.

The study uses an accelerated longitudinal design.   Seven different age cohorts from prenatal to age 18 (separated by three years intervals) will be followed for eight years.   Three years into the study, the age range became continuous.  By the end of the eight-year study, researchers hope to be able to draw statistically meaningful conclusions about some aspects of development from birth to age 26.

Components   PHDCN has five components:

Summaries of measures used in Waves 1 and 2 of the longitudinal survey are available here.

Mode of administration   Some, if not all interviews, were conducted in person.  Some interviews were computer-assisted personal interviews.  More information on survey administration is unavailable.

Survey lengths   A two to three-hour standardized protocol is administered to parents, children and youth.

Sample sizes   343 clusters of city blocks from Chicago's 847 populated census tracts were identified.  Census data was then used to define 2 stratification variables: SES and racial/ethnic composition.  The neighborhood clusters (NCs) were cross-classified by these 2 variables, and a stratified probability sample of 80 NCs was drawn for the Longitudinal Study.  In these neighborhoods, a sample of 7 cohorts of children and youths aged 0 to 18 at Wave 1 (the youngest cohort included unborn children), who are separated by 3 year intervals (0, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18) were selected.  Originally 9 cohorts were planned, going up to age 24; 2 were dropped in 1996.  Each cohort is equally distributed by gender and  racial/ethnic backgrounds.  The target sample was 7,000 and the final sample was 6,234.  The infant study had a sample of six month-old 413 infants.

For the Community Survey, in 1995 residents of each of the 343 neighborhood clusters (NCs) were interviewed.  Approximately 20 people were selected in each neighborhood which was not sampled for the Longitudinal Study, and approximately 50 people were selected in each sampled neighborhood.  The size of the sample identified was  8,782.

The Observational Study was based on the observation and videotaping of 27,734 face blocks distributed across the 80 neighborhood clusters in Chicago.

The Neighborhood Experts Survey was based on interviews of 2,822 neighborhood experts.

Incentives   Respondents were offered monetary incentives, as well as material gifts.  In 1996, the study switched from mailing checks several weeks after the interviews to giving respondents money orders immediately after the completion of interviews.  (The amount of the monetary incentives is unknown.)  Local organizations such as sports teams also donated posters, clothing, and other items to PHDCN to give as gifts to survey participants.

Response rates  Wave 1 response rate was 75%.  The Wave 2 response rate is 84%.  (This falls short of their original goal of surveying 90% of the Wave 1 respondents.)   See the 1999 Annual Report for more detailed information on Wave 2 response rates.  The Community Survey response rate was 78%.

Data availability  Data from the study will eventually be made public.  A master file containing all data from Wave 1 was completed in 1999.  The 1995 Community Survey and the Systematic Social Observation Survey have been archived at the Justice Statistics Center Archival Center at the University of Michigan.

For more information on the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, contact:

The Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods
1430 Massachusetts Avenue
College House, 4th Floor
Cambridge, MA 02138
Phone:  (617) 495-538
Fax:  (617) 495-5633

or

The Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods
651 West Washington, Suite 600
Chicago, IL 60661
Phone:  (312) 879-0889
Fax:  (312) 879-8222

Contact information for individual project staff can be found here.

Funding and administration  The PHDCN is directed from the Harvard School of Public Health, and funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the National Institute of Justice, the National Institute of Mental Health, the U.S. Department of Education, and the Administration for Children, Youth and Families, as well as a number of private foundations.

The Principal Investigator of the Project is Felton Earls, M.D., professor of human behavior and development at Harvard School of Public Health, and professor of child psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

NORC conducted the Neighborhood Experts Survey and the Observational Study of Neighborhoods.  Abt Associates conducted the Community Study

References

Earls, F., Weiss, G.  1998.  Connecting Social Science to the World.  Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods.

Intricate Pathways: The Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, 1998.

PHDCN Annual Report – 1999.

PHDCN Annual Report, 1998.

PHDCN Annual Report – November 1997.

PHDCN Annual Report - November, 1996.

Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods web-site. Internet document: http://phdcn.harvard.edu.

Recent publications related to the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods are listed here.

Quarterly project newletters since 1996 are posted here.

Citation

Modi, Manisha. "Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods." Surveys measuring well-being. 9/14/00. Last modified 03/22/01. Internet document: http://www.wws.princeton.edu/~kling/surveys.PHDCN.html
 
 

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