Neighborhood Environment Walkability Survey (NEWS) & Neighborhood Environment Walkability Survey – Abbreviated (NEWS-A) | Measurement Instrument Database for the Social Sciences

Author of Tool:

Brian E. Saelens, Ph.D., James F. Sallis, Ph.D.

Key references:

Saelens, B.E., Sallis, J.F., Black, J., Chen, D. (2003). Neighborhood-based differences in physical activity: An environment scale evaluation. American Journal of Public Health, 93, 1552-1558.

Primary use / Purpose:

NEWS is a 98-question instrument that assesses the perception of neighborhood design features related to physical activity, including residential density, land use mix (including both indices of proximity and accessibility), street connectivity, infrastructure for walking/cycling, neighborhood aesthetics, traffic and crime safety, and neighborhood satisfaction.

Background:

Included is NEWS-A, the abbreviated version of the NEWS instrument which offers a shorter questionnaire. The abbreviated version of the NEWS instrument was derived based on multi-level factor analysis performed on the original NEWS instrument using a sub-sample of participants in the Neighborhood Quality of Life Study.

Psychometrics:

Preliminary psychometrics for scale reported in Saelens BE, Sallis JF, Black J, & Chen D. (2002) Measuring perceived neighborhood environment factors related to walking/cycling. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 24, S139 and based on a pilot study (n=106) conducted within two neighborhoods in San Diego, CA. Test-retest reliability coefficients are single measure one-way random effect model intra-class correlations.