Development and validation of household resilience measurement scales in the context of urban, coastal, informal settlements in Makassar, Indonesia and Suva, Fiji Restricted; Files Only

Oza, Hemali (Summer 2023)

Permanent URL: https://etd.library.emory.edu/concern/etds/bg257g54m?locale=pt-BR
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Abstract

With increasingly severe weather events, compounded by additional environmental shocks and stressors, as well as socio-economic challenges, there is an urgent need to build resilience among low-income populations. This dissertation focuses on the development and validation of measurement tools for assessing urban household resilience in informal settlements in Indonesia and Fiji.

In AIM 1, a critical review was conducted to examine empirical studies that measured household and community resilience to environmental shocks and stressors in low- and middle-income countries. The review identified gaps in current practices and provided guidance for measuring resilience based on resilience theory. A measurement framework for urban household resilience was subsequently developed based on these findings, with a focus on low- and middle-income countries.

AIM 2 focused on the development and validation of scales to measure economic and social resilience among urban households in coastal, informal settlements facing environmental disturbances. A conceptual framework was proposed, and survey questions were developed based on the framework. Data was collected from households in Fiji and Indonesia, and statistical analyses were conducted to assess the reliability and validity of the scales. The results confirmed the scales for economic and social resilience, providing a comprehensive measurement tool for assessing resilience-building efforts. The environmental resilience scale was recommended for further refinement.

AIM 3 focused on improving the efficiency of measuring social resilience by validating a short-form of the previously validated 16-question scale. Item response theory methods were employed to select a subset of questions that maintained the scale's dimensionality and reliability while. The reduced 11-question scale was tested for reliability, construct validity, and equivalence across the study sites. The results demonstrated that the shortened scale retained its reliability and validity, while enabling faster survey completion and facilitating data analysis.

Overall, this dissertation contributes to the understanding and measurement of resilience among low-income urban populations facing environmental shocks and stressors. It provides guidance on resilience measurement, develops measurement frameworks, and offers practical tools for assessing and monitoring resilience-building efforts. The findings have important implications for the design and evaluation of programs and interventions aimed at enhancing resilience in low-income urban communities.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction 1

1.1 Working definitions 1

1.1.1 Resilience Terminology 1

1.1.2 Scale Development Terminology 1

1.2 Environmental disturbances and climate change induced hazards 2

1.3 Shocks and stressors 5

1.4 Low-income urban populations and informal settlements 6

1.5 The cycle of poverty perpetuated by environmental disturbances 7

1.6 Introduction to Resilience: potential to disrupt the cycle of poverty 8

1.7 Resilience in the development sector 9

1.8 A brief summary of resilience measurement theory 10

1.8.1 Measuring resilience as a capacity 10

1.8.2 Measuring resilience as a normative condition 11

1.8.3 Resilience as a return to equilibrium 11

1.8.4 Choosing the ‘resilience as a capacity’ conceptualization for our study 12

1.9 An introduction to scale development and validation methods 13

1.10 Revitalizing Informal Settlements and their Environments (RISE) Study background 16

1.10.1 Study Sites and Climatic Vulnerabilities: Makassar, Indonesia and Suva, Fiji 16

1.10.2 RISE Intervention 18

1.11 Dissertation Aims 20

1.11.1 Aim 1 20

1.11.2 Aim 2 21

1.11.3 Aim 3 21

Chapter 2 AIM 1 22

2.1 Abstract 22

2.2 Introduction 23

2.3 Methods 25

2.3.1 Study Objectives and Research Questions 26

2.3.2 Search strategy and screening approach 26

2.3.3 Inclusion and exclusion criteria 27

2.3.4 Data extraction and management 28

2.3.5 Methods to address research question 1: Are measures conceptually grounded in resilience theory? 28

2.3.6 Methods to address research question 2: Are there gaps among specific domains and sub-domains among measures that do conceptually measure resilience? 33

2.3.7 Methods to answer research question 3: Do measures reflect both the capitals and capacities that resilience depends on? 35

2.4. Results 36

2.4.1 Study screening results 36

2.4.2 Summary of included studies 36

2.4.3 Results answering Question 1: Are measures conceptually ground in resilience theory? 39

2.4.4 Results answering Question 2: Are there gaps among specific domains and sub-domains among measures that do conceptually measure resilience? 43

2.4.5 Results for Question 3: Do measures reflect both the capitals and capacities that resilience depends on? 45

2.4.6 Resulting framework for the measurement of household and community resilience in LMICs to environmental shocks and stressors 46

2.5 Discussion 50

2.5.1 Strengths and Limitations 54

2.6 Conclusions 54

Chapter 3 AIM 2 56

3.1 Abstract 56

3.2 Introduction 57

3.3 Methods 60

3.3.1 The RISE RCT research study 60

3.3.2 Household resilience scale development within the RISE study 61

3.3.3 Methods of Step 1: Development of an urban household resilience framework for LMICs 66

3.3.4 Step 2: Survey question development 71

3.3.5 Step 3: Data collection 76

3.3.6 Step 4: Scale development analysis 76

3.3.7 Step 5: Further evaluation of each survey question by scale using item response theory 79

3.3.8 Step 6: Equivalence analysis 80

3.3.9 Step 7: Reliability analysis 82

3.3.10 Step 8: Construct validity analysis 82

3.4 Results 83

3.4.1 Results for Step 1: Development of an urban household resilience framework for LMICs 83

3.4.2 Results for Step 2: Survey question development 83

3.4.3 Results of Step 3: Data collection 83

3.4.4 Results of step 4: scale development analysis 84

3.4.5 Results for step 5: Further performance evaluation of each survey question by scale using IRT 90

3.4.6 Results of step 6: Further evaluation of the scales’ use across different groups 95

3.4.7 Results of step 7: Test of the finalized scales for reliability 97

3.4.8 Results of step 8: Test of the finalized scales for validity 98

3.5 Discussion 99

3.5.1 Summary, Interpretation, and Contribution 99

3.5.2 Implications 101

3.5.3 Decision to Drop the Environmental Resilience Scale and Plans for Refinement 101

3.5.4 Limitations 102

3.6 Conclusions 104

Chapter 4 AIM 3 105

4.1 Abstract 105

4.2 Introduction 105

4.3 Methods 107

4.3.1 Development and Validation of the Full Scale from a Previous Study 107

4.3.2 Scale Reduction Methods Overview 111

4.3.3 A Brief Summary of IRT Analysis and Methodologies 113

4.3.4 Testing the reduced model fit 114

4.3.5 Equivalence analysis 115

4.3.6 Reliability 116

4.3.7 Construct validity 116

4.4 Results 117

4.4.1 Visual assessment for item performance through IRT methods 117

4.4.2 Discrimination and difficulty analysis through IRT methods 119

4.4.3 Testing reduced models for fit 121

4.4.4 Reliability through coefficient omega and scale reliability curves 123

4.4.5 Construct validity 123

4.4.6 Equivalence analysis of reduced scales 124

4.4.7 Summary Table 125

4.5 Discussion 127

4.6 Conclusions 129

Chapter 5 Discussion 130

5.1 Summary of findings 130

5.1.1 Aim 1 findings 130

5.1.2 Aim 2 findings 131

5.1.3 Aim 3 findings 131

5.2 Strengths and Advancement of the Science 131

5.3 Limitations 133

5.4 Dropping the environmental resilience scale 135

5.5 Implications 138

5.5.1 Implications within the RISE study 138

5.5.2 Implications to a broader development and resilience audience 139

5.6 Future directions 140

5.7 Conclusions 141

References 143

Supplemental Section 157

2.1 Search Strategy 157

2.2 Data extraction form 162

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