Reproduction of Spielman (2020)
We successfully reproduced Spielman et al. (2020)’s reproduction of Cutter et al. (2003)’s Social Vulnerability Index (SoVI) by getting the same results. To further assess the validity of the original SoVI model, we weighted the principal components used to compute the score and compared the findings from the weighted model to the original model to see if this improved internal and/or theoretical consistency. We found weighting the principal components by the percent of the variance each component explained slightly improved internal consistency and slightly more improvd theoretical consistency. However, the weighted model remained internally inconsistent, and Spielman et al.’s critiques of the SoVI model remain valid. See the report linked below for further discussion of the weighted results.
Related Sources
Spielman’s original paper:
Spielman, S. E., Tuccillo, J., Folch, D. C., Schweikert, A., Davies, R., Wood, N., & Tate, E. (2020). Evaluating social vulnerability indicators: criteria and their application to the Social Vulnerability Index. Natural Hazards, 100(1), 417–436. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-019-03820-z
Cutter’s original Social Vulnerability Index paper:
Cutter, S. L., Boruff, B. J., & Shirley, W. L. (2003). Social vulnerability to environmental hazards. Social Science Quarterly, 84(2), 242–261. https://doi.org/10.1111/1540-6237.8402002