"Respect on the Road": Mott MacDonald Literature Review

Critical assessment of key sources

The following table summarises the critical assessment of key sources which have been used in this document. We define key sources as those which have helped us to develop the summary to this document.

The critical assessment looked at the following elements:

• Scope - what is the breadth of the material viewed?
• Audience - who are the intended audience?
• Timeliness - when was the document published?
• Authority - who wrote the article, and are they known for other work?
• Objectivity - is the document objective, or has it been sponsored by an organisation which might affect its validity?
• Websites - is the site objective? Is it up to date?

As a result of out evaluation of the key sources, we have been able to assign a level of 'usefulness' to each document. This uses a 'traffic light' methodology, whereby the following colours should be interpreted in a specific way:

• Red - these documents have limited use, but should not be dismissed completely. For example, the methodology used may be flawed, but something useful may still be contributed to the discussion.
• Amber - these documents have greater use, but there still may be issues regarding the methodology or the extent to which its findings can be applied to other areas or countries.
• Green - these documents are likely to be the most robust, and the results most applicable to other situations. However, as with the articles given a 'red' rating, there may still be some issues which can affect its validity.

Throughout the main text of the document, these key texts are discussed in greater depth, and a critical assessment is provided within the body of the report. These assessments are provided in colour-coded boxes, using the same 'traffic light' methodology as above.

Source	Year	Scope	Audience	Type	Objectivity	Primary/ Secondary	Strengths/ Weaknesses	Rating
Bandura	1986	Book	General	Book	Yes	Secondary	Well respected, systematic approach.
Childs	2005	Website report	General	Report	No - funded by British Parking Assoc.	Secondary	Possibly not even handed in its treatment of drivers and parking attendants.
Connell & Joint	1996	Literature review	General	Literature review	Yes	Secondary	Literature review, aggressive driving.
Dahlen & Regan	2004	Academic research	Academic	Journal paper	Yes	Primary	Limited age range of undergraduate sample, self reported data.
Deffenbacher et al	2003	Academic research	Academic	Journal paper	Yes	Primary	Useful and objective study, but sample is made of psychology students only.
Deffenbacher et al	1994	Academic research	Academic	Journal paper	Yes	Primary	Development of DAS. Well used research in academia.
DePasquale et al	2001	Academic research	Academic	Journal paper	Yes	Primary	Development of PADS. Well used research in academia. But limited sample (numerically and socio-demographically).
Dollard et al	1939	Academic research	Academic	Journal paper	Yes	Primary	Very old research, but its findings are still relevant to explaining driving aggression.
Dukes et al	2001	Academic research	Academic	Journal paper	Yes	Primary	Limited sample of undergraduates, American research may not be applicable
Dula & Geller	2003	Academic research	Academic	Journal paper	Yes	Secondary	Attempts to develop a working definition of aggressive driving. Their definition doesn't seem to have been taken up.
Forward	2004	Conference paper	Conference	Journal paper	Yes	Primary	Swedish survey, 1800 respondents, uses survey designed by 'Manchester Driving Group.
Gabler & Hollowell	1998	Academic research	Academic	Journal paper	Yes	Primary	American study, cannot be easily applied to British conditions due to different make-up of commercial vehicle types.
Galovski & Blanchard	2002	Academic research	Academic	Journal paper	Yes	Primary	Small sample size, they use same results as basis for several other academic papers
Galovski & Blanchard	2004	Academic research	Academic	Journal paper	Yes	Primary	Small sample size, they use same results as basis for several other academic papers
Joint	1995	Summary of survey	General	Research summary	Yes	Primary	Objective, robust and independent research carried out to Market Research Standards by the AA Research Team.
Lajunen & Parker	2001	Academic research	Academic	Journal paper	Yes	Primary	Development of DAS work. Recent. British sample therefore applicable to other areas. Limited sample, self reported data.
London Assembly	2005	Website report	General	Committee report	Yes	Secondary	Focuses on London, may not be applicable outside London or other urban areas.
Marshall & Thomas	2000	Government Briefing Note	General	Briefing note	Yes	Primary & Secondary	Limited scope, relies on media reporting
Maxwell et al	2005	Academic research	Academic	Journal paper	Yes	Primary	Development of PADS work. Recent. British sample therefore applicable to other areas. Limited university-based sample, self reported data.
Mizell	Undated	Website report	General	Commentary	No - AAA funded	Secondary	Useful discussion of coping strategies, but may be pro-motorist.
Parker & Stradling	2001	Survey	General	DfT briefing note	Yes - but sponsored by DETR	Primary	Limited methodology.
Parker, Lajunen & Summula	2002	Academic research	Academic	Journal paper	Yes	Primary	Useful comparison of causes of anger across Europe. But differences between countries may be due to different driving conditions.
Porter & Berry	2001	Academic research	Academic	Journal paper	Yes	Primary	Small sample, over-representative of women and older drivers, telephone survey.
Shinar	1998	Literature review & studies	Academic	Literature review & studies	Yes	Secondary	Good summary of literature.
Smart et al	2005	Academic research	Academic	Journal paper	Yes	Primary	Limited 'longitudinal' study, Canada based.
Tasca	Undated	Literature review	Advisory group	Literature review	Yes	Secondary	Wide ranging, concentrates on drivers (highlighting lack of info from other road users).
Taylor & Pocock	1975	Academic research	Academic	Journal paper	Yes	Primary	Older, but still valid. Age of research has to be taken into account.
Wells-Parker et al	2002	Academic research	Academic	Journal paper	Yes	Primary	Nationally representative large sample, US based, self reported data, telephone survey, nearly 10 years old but journal only four years ago.
Yagil	1998	Academic research	Academic	Journal paper	Yes	Primary	Study limited by concentrating on male army employees.
Yu et al	2004	Academic research	Academic	Journal paper	Yes	Primary	Useful summary of data linking aggression to alcohol and driving. But only looks at those convicted.

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