An Internal Validation Assessment of Scale Across Social Vulnerability Index Model Structures


Authors:
Owners: Selena Ann Hinojos
Type: Resource
Storage: The size of this resource is 4.4 MB
Created: Jan 14, 2025 at 8:46 p.m.
Last updated: Jan 17, 2025 at 2:36 p.m.
Published date: Jan 17, 2025 at 2:36 p.m.
DOI: 10.4211/hs.63069c38b2184b9197da1d93ae9910ac
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Sharing Status: Published
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Abstract

Proactive and equitable planning for natural hazards is vital, as these events can cause mass destruction and severely impact livelihoods. To aid hazard preparedness decision-making, organizations can utilize tools like a social vulnerability index (SVI), developed to identify vulnerable populations to ensure that those with inherent social inequities are considered in planning. However, SVI construction involves various approaches that introduce epistemic uncertainty, potentially affecting resulting decisions. While progress has been made in understanding how construction processes affect index results, the spatial elements of SVI models are underexplored, with conflicting views on the influence of scale selection. This study addresses this gap by evaluating how changes in the selection of scalar properties (areal units and geographic boundaries) and indicator selection impact SVI ranks for two indices, the Center for Disease Control SVI (CDC SVI) and the University of South Carolina Hazards Vulnerability and Resilience Institute SVI (HVRI SoVI). We examine these changes across three model structures: hierarchical with z-score standardization, hierarchical with percentile ranking normalization, and inductive with z-score standardization, employing an uncertainty and sensitivity analysis. When altering scalar and indicator properties, we found the inductive model less robust than hierarchical models. We also observed indicator selection as the primary driver of variability in SVI ranks across all model structures. However, we found significant yet mixed effects of scale selection and interaction effects on variability in SVI ranks. Our findings emphasize the critical role of scale selection in shaping index outcomes and underscore the need for critical evaluation in SVI creation to advance equitable hazard management.

Coverage

Spatial

Coordinate System/Geographic Projection:
WGS 84 EPSG:4326
Coordinate Units:
Decimal degrees
Place/Area Name:
City of Charleston, South Carolina, USA
North Latitude
32.8854°
East Longitude
-79.8152°
South Latitude
32.7169°
West Longitude
-80.0734°
Leaflet Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors

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Credits

Funding Agencies

This resource was created using funding from the following sources:
Agency Name Award Title Award Number
U.S. National Science Foundation #2244715

How to Cite

Hinojos, S. A., C. Grady (2025). An Internal Validation Assessment of Scale Across Social Vulnerability Index Model Structures, HydroShare, https://doi.org/10.4211/hs.63069c38b2184b9197da1d93ae9910ac

This resource is shared under the Creative Commons Attribution CC BY.

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
CC-BY

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