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Multiple Levels and Modalities of Measurement in a Population-Based Approach to Improving Parenting

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Emerging Methods in Family Research

Part of the book series: National Symposium on Family Issues ((NSFI,volume 4))

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Abstract

The goal of a public health approach to improving parenting is to increase the prevalence of effective parenting practices in a population. Achieving this goal requires that a large proportion of the population be reached with a spectrum of effective parenting supports, widely accessible in the community, and delivered in a variety of formats, through a variety of settings, and at different levels of intensity. Similarly, measuring the effectiveness of such a public health approach to improving parenting requires a spectrum of measurement tools at multiple levels so that child and family outcomes can be assessed at multiple levels of intervention. The levels of measurement include: (1) micro-focused observational measures, (2) easy-to-administer parent survey measures, (3) population-level prevalence indicators, and (4) program implementation measures. This chapter discusses these four levels of measurement, providing examples of each and exploring the contribution that each makes to a public health strategy.

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Acknowledgments

Preparation of this chapter was funded by grant #R01DA021307 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to Carol W. Metzler at Oregon Research Institute.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Oregon Research Institute, Eugene, OR, USA

    Carol W. Metzler PhD & Julie C. Rusby PhD

  2. Parenting and Family Support Centre, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Matthew R. Sanders PhD

Authors
  1. Carol W. Metzler PhD
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  2. Matthew R. Sanders PhD
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  3. Julie C. Rusby PhD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Carol W. Metzler PhD .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Human Develop. & Family Studies, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA

    Susan M. McHale

  2. Department of Sociology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA

    Paul Amato

  3. Department of Sociology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA

    Alan Booth

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Metzler, C., Sanders, M., Rusby, J. (2014). Multiple Levels and Modalities of Measurement in a Population-Based Approach to Improving Parenting. In: McHale, S., Amato, P., Booth, A. (eds) Emerging Methods in Family Research. National Symposium on Family Issues, vol 4. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-01562-0_12

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