Week 4

4. (9/26) Categories

Idea: Collecting and analyzing data requires categories: Have we omitted relevant categories or mixed different phenomena under one label? What basis do we have for subdividing a continuum into categories? How do we ensure correct diagnosis and assignment to categories? What meaning do we intend to give to data collected in our categories?

Cases: Comparative methods for studying socioeconomic position and health in different ethnic communities; Marriage and divorce by class in the USA; Brown vs. Dohrenwend on Life events and difficulties (surveys vs. intensive interviews)

Readings: Davey-Smith et al. 2000, Hymowitz 2007; Birley and Goldberg 2000, Dohrenwend 1993.

 

Copyright ©2010 Peter Taylor, Ph.D.

Citation: cchewadmin. (2008, July 29). Week 4. Retrieved November 06, 2014, from UMass Boston OpenCourseware Web site: http://ocw.umb.edu/public-policy/epidemiological-thinking-for-non-specialists/schedule-links/week-4.
Copyright 2014, Peter Taylor. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License