Evaluation of Pedestrian Safety Education Programs for Young Children: A Review of Methodologies

Abstract

A review of the research methodologies used to evaluate the effectiveness of pedestrian education programs for children is presented in this paper. Since pedestrian injuries are one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality among young children it is necessary to identify and evaluate interventions which will reduce the incidence and severity of these injuries. There are, however, many methodological difficulties to be overcome by researchers attempting to establish the merit of such programs. For example, selection bias in school-based programs, lack of strict criteria for follow-up of all subjects, and an inability to control for confounding because relevant variables are not rigorously monitored are just some of the methodological limitations. This paper identifies a number of limitations and aspects of evaluation which are of ten omitted and suggests ways in which these problems may be addressed in future research.