An introduction to methodological foundations. Seven steps toward an epidemiology of consequence.
100 Farrlandians — 20 with disease
Adjust the sliders to see how prevalence and measures of association change.
No single factor causes disease alone. Disease occurs when all the component causes in a sufficient cause are present in the same individual. Click on a Farrlandian to add or remove component causes, and watch what happens when a sufficient cause is complete.
Each person has different combinations of causes. A sufficient cause is like a complete recipe — every ingredient must be present.
Click on a person to toggle their component causes. Disease occurs when all causes in at least one sufficient cause are present.
Each decision shapes what we can learn and what we can do with what we learn.
Walk through the seven steps to design an epidemiologic study of consequence.
A summary of your epidemiologic study of consequence.
Each chapter connects methodological choices to questions of social responsibility.
How we define a health indicator determines who counts as a case. Who counts determines what risk factors we find. What we find determines what gets funded.
Consider depression. A clinical interview identifies fewer cases than a screening tool. Those missed are disproportionately people without access to clinical settings. The measurement choice is not neutral.
When you choose a measure, ask: whose health does this make visible, and whose does it obscure?