1 Epid 827 - Social Epidemiology: Analysis and Interpretation Instructor: Whitney R. Robinson, Ph.D Department of Epidemiology UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health 2104B McGavran-Greenberg Hall campus mail address: Epidemiology, CB#7435 Usual Time and Place: Thursday 2:00-3:50 pm Room: Rosenau 235 Learning objectives: To identify how the field of epidemiology researches the social determinants of health differently than other disciplinces, such as sociology, psychology, or health policy To identify the methodological challenges that are addressed by different study designs and analyses used in social epidemiology To apply methods from the field of social epidemiology to research questions of interest to the student COURSE STRUCTURE: Most sessions will consist of short lectures from respected interdisciplinary researchers, followed by structured discussions of selected scientific publications relevant to the lecture. Readings will be available on Sakai or PubMed. To facilitate high-quality discussions, all assigned readings should be completed prior to class. Come to class ready to evaluate the quality of readings and explain in what situations a technique or concept would apply to research questions of interest to you. Course Requirements & Grading Criteria % of Grade Due Date Class participation 29% 3 Lab responses (due Tuesdays 9 am) 21% see calendar Presentation 1: research question & challenge 25% Mar 3 Presentation 2: Two approaches for addressing challenge 25% Apr 21 Course evaluations (online) last 3 weeks of class Assignment formatting for papers and presentation: Presentation slides should be saved using this standardized file name format: YY_MM_DD_Epid827_last-name_assignment (e.g., 15_03_08_Epid827_Robinson_presentation1.docx). Within the document for the Paper, include a title and bolded headings for each section. Paper should be single-spaced, with Arial 11 point or Times New Roman 12pt font, and 1 Margins. Submitting assignments: * Submit assignments (e.g., lab responses, presentation slides) electronically via Sakai. Sakai will not accept assignments after the posted deadline. * In fairness to those who meet the deadlines, late papers may be penalized 10% per day. * If you are unable to submit an assignment by the deadline, please e-mail me as soon as possible, preferably at least 36 hours ahead of time.
2 Honor code: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has had a student-administered honor system and judicial system for over 100 years. The system is the responsibility of students and is regulated and governed by them, but faculty share the responsibility. If you have questions about your responsibility under the honor code, please bring them to your instructor or consult with the office of the Dean of Students or the Instrument of Student Judicial Governance. This document (the Instrument), adopted by the Chancellor, the Faculty Council, and the Student Congress, contains all policies and procedures pertaining to the student honor system. Your full participation and observance of the honor code is expected. Required readings: listed in table below Optional readings: 1) Microeconometrics Using Stata. A. Colin Cameron and Pravin K. Trivedi. 2009. College Station, TX: StateCorp LP. ISBN-13: 978-1-59718-048-1 2) Methods in Social Epidemiology, eds. J. Michael Oakes and Jay S. Kaufman. 2006. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. ISBN-13: 978-0-7879-7989-8 Date Topic Speaker Jan 14 TOPIC: What is social epidemiology for? Jan 21 Jan 28 Feb 4 Feb 11 Feb 18 Introduction to course Discuss progressive class project mid-semester presentation & final presentation LAB: Demonstrate remote server for Stata access First part of Fixed Effects lab to trouble-shoot TOPIC: What kind of cause are you looking for? Intra-population versus inter-population variation LAB: Stata exercise: Fixed effects TOPIC: Survey weights Presentation: Application of survey weights in Add Health (National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health) Location change: Mayes Center VIDEOCONFERENCE! TOPIC: Epidemiologic approaches to evaluating health effects of policy Studying health effects of neighborhoods LAB: Multilevel models Selection bias: example of large population-based studies vs selected samples Whitney Robinson, PhD Asst prof, UNC Epidemiology Whitney Robinson, PhD Asst prof, UNC Epidemiology Ping Chen, PhD Carolina Population Center (CPC) Dan Taber, PhD Asst Prof, U Tx-Austin Health Promotion & Behavioral Science Sandra Albrecht, PhD Asst Prof, UNC Nutrition Nancy Dole, PhD CPC/Epid Dept. *Feb 25 Measuring tough-to-measure constructs at the Amar Hamoudi, PhD
3 population level: Example of psychosocial measures in lifecourse research *Mar 3 Class presentations 1: Present a research question of interest & the biggest methodologic challenge or limitation of previous students research (e.g., measurement bias, confounding, selection bias, positivity, generalizability) Mar 10 Studying the social context: Qualitative methods to complement quantitative analysis Mar 17 Spring break No class *Mar 24 Crafting compelling, theoretically-driven, policyrelevant research questions: Examples from law enforcement and civil rights Asst Professor, Duke Economics Marta Mulawa Doctoral student, UNC HB Frank Baumgartner, PhD Professor, UNC Political Science *Mar 31 Apr 7 Measuring disparities: interactive discussion Population-relevant estimates Apr 14 Novel data sources: Novel data sources: using nontraditional data sources to study neighborhood influences on health Apr 21 Class presentations 2: Evaluate two attractive approaches for addressing the methodologic challenge discussed in presentation 2, finally choosing one and justifying that decision Whitney Robinson, PhD Asst prof, UNC Epidemiology Daniel Westreich, PhD Assoc Prof, UNC Epidemiology Jana Hirsch, PhD CPC Post-doctoral Fellow students * Change in dates from original syllabus
4 READINGS (Tentative reading list in GRAY) Jan 14 What is Social Epidemiology? Speaker: Whitney Robinson, PhD Kawachi I. 2002. Social epidemiology. Social Science & Medicine;54:1739-41. Glymour MM, Osypuk TL, Rehkopf DH. 2013. Invited Commentary: Off-Roading with Social Epidemiology Exploration, Causation, Translation. American Journal of Epidemiology; 178(6): 858-863. Chapter 1: Introduction: Advancing Methods in Social Epidemiology. J. Michael Oakes and Jay S. Kaufman. in Methods in Social Epidemiology, eds. J. Michael Oakes and Jay S. Kaufman. 2006. Jan 21 What kind of cause are you looking for? Intra-population versus interpopulation variation Speaker: Whitney Robinson, PhD Rose G. Sick individuals and sick populations. Int J Epidemiol 2001;30:427-32. xtreg command, Panel-data summary Within Estimator, Between Estimator. Sections 8.2.4-8.3.4, p. 233-240, Sections 8.5-8.6 (p. 251-254). In Microeconometrics Using Stata. Colin Cameron and Pravin K. Trivedi. 2009. College Station, TX: StateCorp LP. ISBN-13: 978-1-59718-048-1 Chapter 3 Indicators of Socioeconomic position in Methods in Social Epidemiology, eds. J. Michael Oakes and Jay S. Kaufman. 2006. Jan 28 Survey weights Speaker: Ping Chen, PhD Mullen Harris, K. 2013. The Add Health Study: Design and Accompishments. http://www.cpc.unc.edu/projects/addhealth/data/guides/designpaperwiiv.pdf Sections 3.7 (p. 105-109). In Microeconometrics Using Stata. Colin Cameron and Pravin K. Trivedi. 2009. College Station, TX: StateCorp LP. ISBN-13: 978-1-59718-048-1 Chantala K, Tabor J. (2010 Revised). Strategies to perform a design-based analysis using the Add Health data. http://www.cpc.unc.edu/projects/addhealth/data/guides/weight1.pdf Tourangeau R, Shin H. 1999. Grand Sample Weight. (Add Health). http://www.cpc.unc.edu/projects/addhealth/data/guides/weights.pdf Feb 4 Epidemiologic approaches to evaluating health effects of policy Speaker: Daniel Taber, PhD Wall et al. Adolescent marijuana use from 2002 to 2008: higher in states with medical marijuana laws, cause still unclear. Annals of Epidemiology. 2011, September; 21(9): 714-716. Harper et al. Do medical marijuana laws increase marijuana use? Replication study and extension. Annals of Epidemiology. 2012, March; 22(3): 207-212.
5 Colchero MA, Popkin BM, Rivera JA, Ng SW. Beverage purchases from stores in Mexico under the excise tax o sugar sweetened beverages: observational study. BMJ. 2015: 352:h6704. doi: 10.1136/bmj.h6704 Supplemental Stata code Feb 11 Studying Health Effects of Neighborhoods Speaker: Sandra Albrecht, PhD Merlo J, Chaix B, Yang M, Lynch J, Rastam L. 2005. A brief conceptual tutorial on multilevel analysis in social epidemiology: interpreting neighborhood differences and the effect of neighborhood characteristics on individual health. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. 59: 1022-1029. A. Colin Cameron and Pravin K. Trivedi. 2009. 9.5: Mixed Linear Models and 9.6: Clustered Data. pp 298-312 In: Microeconometrics Using Stata. College Station, TX: StateCorp LP. Albright JJ, Marinova DM. 2010. Estimating multilevel models using SPSS, Stata, SAS and R. Section 5, Stata, p 19-23. Feb 18 Selection bias: example of large population-based studies vs selected samples Speaker: Nancy Dole, PhD: Savitz DA, Dole N, Kaczor D, et al. Probability samples of area births versus clinic populations for reproductive epidemiology studies. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol. 2005;19(4):315-22 Michael RT, O Muircheartaigh CA. Design priorities and disciplinary perspectives: the case of the US National Children s Study. J Royal Statistical Soc A. 2008;171(2):465-480 Item description. Feb 25 Measuring tough-to-measure constructs at the population level: Example of psychosocial measures in lifecourse research Speaker: Amar Hamoudi, PhD Hamoudi A, Sheridan M. 2015. Unpacking the Black Box of Cognitive Ability: A novel too for assessment in a population based survey (draft). Mar 3 Class presentations March 10 - Studying the social context: Qualitative Methods to complement quantitative analysis Speaker: Marta Mulawa, MHS
6 Steckler A, McLeroy KR, Goodman RM, Bird ST, McCormick L. Toward integrating qualitative and quantitative methods: An introduction. Health Education Quarterly. 1992. 19(1): 1-8. Early Detection of Cervical Cancer among Native American Women: A Qualitative Supplement to a Quantitative Study. Lynne Messer, Allan Steckler and Mark Dignan. 1999 Health Educ Behav Link:http://libproxy.lib.unc.edu/login?url=http://heb.sagepub.com.libproxy.lib.unc.ed u/content/26/4/547.full.pdf+html March 24 -- Crafting compelling, theoretically-driven, policy-relevant research questions Speaker: Frank Baumgartner, PhD: Baumgartner FR, Gram W, Johnson KR, Krishnamurthy A, Wilson CP. The geographic distribution of US. Revised article for publication in the Duke Journal of Constitutional Law and Public Policy. Draft date: March 6, 2016. (Brief mid-semester review prior to speaker) March 31 Measuring disparities: interactive discussion Class discussion: Harper S, et al. An overview of methods for monitoring social disparities in cancer with an example using trends in lung cancer incidence by area socioeconomic position and race-ethnicity, 1992-2004. American Journal of Epidemiology. 2008; 167 (8): 889-899. VanderWeele TJ, Robinson WR. On the causal interpretation of race in regressions adjusting for confounding and mediating variables. Epidemiology. 2014; 25(4): 473-484. Messer LC. Invited commentary: Measuring social disparities in health what was the question again? American Journal of Epidemiology. 2008; 167 (8): 900-904. Harper et al. Responsd to Measuring social disparities in health. American Journal of Epidemiology. 2008; 167 (8): 905-907. Robinson WR. Interpreting race in regression models: application of causal framework in disparities research. PowerPoint presentation April 7 Population-relevant estimates Speaker: Daniel Westrich, PhD Westreich D. From exposures to population-level interventions: Pregnancy and response to HIV therapy. American Journal of Epidemiology. 2014; 179(7): 797-806. April 14 Novel data sources: using non-traditional data sources to study neighborhood influences on health
7 Speaker: Jana Hirsch, PhD Chaix, Basile, et al. "GPS tracking in neighborhood and health studies: a step forward for environmental exposure assessment, a step backward for causal inference?." Health & Place 21 (2013): 46-51 Hipp, J. Aaron, et al. "Emerging technologies: webcams and crowd-sourcing to identify active transportation." (2013). Dunton, Genevieve F., et al. "Using ecologic momentary assessment to measure physical activity during adolescence." American Journal of Preventive Medicine 29.4 (2005): 281-287. Hirsch, Jana A., et al. "Using MapMyFitness to place physical activity into neighborhood context." Emerging Technologies to Promote and Evaluate Physical Activity (2014): 62. Rundle, Andrew G., et al. "Using Google Street View to audit neighborhood environments." American journal of preventive medicine 40.1 (2011): 94-100.
8 OTHER READINGS Pascoe, E. A., & Smart Richman, L. (2009). Perceived discrimination and health: A metaanalytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 135(4), 531-554. doi:10.1037/a0016059 http://libproxy.lib.unc.edu/login?url=http://vb3lk7eb4t.scholar.serialssolutions.com.libproxy.l ib.unc.edu/?sid=google&auinit=ea&aulast=pascoe&atitle=perceived+discrimination+and+ health:+a+metaanalytic+review.&id=doi:10.1037/a0016059&title=psychological+bulletin&volume=135&iss ue=4&date=2009&spage=531&issn=0033-2909 Lauderdale D. Birth outcomes for Arabic-named women in California before and after September 11. Demography. 2006/02/01 2006;43(1):185-201. http://libproxy.lib.unc.edu/login?url=http://download.springer.com.libproxy.lib.unc.edu/static /pdf/18/art%253a10.1353%252fdem.2006.0008.pdf?auth66=1396052935_5a71d74bf699 cfc72539e5d79518b114&ext=.pdf