AICP Research and Assessment Methods 2

Question 1

A planner conducting a housing needs assessment wants to understand the lived experiences of residents in a displacement-threatened neighborhood. Which method is MOST appropriate?

Accepted Answer

Ethnographic fieldwork with in-depth interviews

Answer

Ethnographic fieldwork and in-depth interviews capture qualitative lived experiences that quantitative or secondary data methods cannot.

Question 2

Which statistical measure best describes the spread of household income data around the mean in a community needs assessment?

Accepted Answer

Standard deviation

Answer

Standard deviation measures the average distance of data points from the mean, indicating income variability around the central value.

Question 3

A city wants to evaluate whether a new transit line caused increased retail sales in adjacent corridors. The MOST rigorous quasi-experimental design would be:

Accepted Answer

Difference-in-differences comparing the corridor to a control area over time

Answer

Difference-in-differences compares changes in treatment and control areas, controlling for pre-existing trends and isolating the transit effect.

Question 4

In a Delphi method study, what happens after the first round of expert responses?

Accepted Answer

Responses are aggregated and anonymously fed back to experts for revision

Answer

The Delphi method uses iterative anonymous feedback rounds, allowing experts to revise opinions based on group results until consensus emerges.

Question 5

A planner uses GIS to overlay flood zones, low-income census tracts, and age of housing stock. This type of analysis is BEST described as:

Accepted Answer

Spatial overlay analysis

Answer

Spatial overlay analysis combines multiple geographic layers to identify areas meeting multiple criteria simultaneously.

AICP - American Institute of Certified Planners Practice Test

AICP - American Institute of Certified Planners Practice Test

AICP Research and Assessment Methods 2