AICP Research and Assessment Methods 5

Question 1

A planner is designing a fiscal impact analysis for a proposed residential subdivision. Which component should be INCLUDED in the expenditure side of the analysis?

Accepted Answer

Increased costs for school, fire, and public works services

Answer

Fiscal impact analysis compares new public service costs (expenditures) against new tax and fee revenues generated by the development.

Question 2

Which technique is used to identify the minimum level of activity a project or business needs to cover its costs?

Accepted Answer

Break-even analysis

Answer

Break-even analysis determines the point at which total revenue equals total costs, indicating the minimum scale needed for financial viability.

Question 3

A metropolitan planning organization (MPO) is comparing the long-term community impacts of two alternative land use scenarios. The MOST appropriate tool would be:

Accepted Answer

An integrated land use-transportation model such as UrbanSim

Answer

Integrated land use-transportation models like UrbanSim simulate how land use and travel patterns co-evolve over time under different policy scenarios.

Question 4

When a planner reports that a finding is statistically significant at p < 0.05, it means:

Accepted Answer

There is a 5% chance the observed relationship is due to sampling error rather than a true effect

Answer

A p-value of 0.05 means there is a 5% probability of observing the data (or more extreme data) if the null hypothesis were true.

Question 5

A planner is reviewing a proposed food desert intervention and wants to measure whether grocery store access actually improved diet outcomes. Which study design provides the strongest causal evidence?

Accepted Answer

Randomized controlled trial assigning neighborhoods to receive or not receive a new store

Answer

A randomized controlled trial is the gold standard for causal inference because random assignment controls for both observed and unobserved confounding factors.

AICP - American Institute of Certified Planners Practice Test

AICP - American Institute of Certified Planners Practice Test

AICP Research and Assessment Methods 5