- Title Pages
- Preface
- References
- Acknowledgments
- References
- 1 The Scope and Purposes of Epidemiology
- 2 The Relation of Concepts to Causes in Epidemiology
- 3 The Concept of Environment
- 4 Numeracy in Epidemiology
- 5 The French Enlightenment, Epidemiology, and Public Health
- 6 The British Sanitary Movement: Edwin Chadwick
- 7 Vital Statistics: William Farr and the Creation of a System
- 8 Contagion, Infection, and the Idea of Specific Agents
- 9 Origins of a National Public Health System
- 10 Germ Theory, Infection, and Bacteriology
- 11 The Concept of Host and Immunity
- 12 Epidemiology Fully Harnessed to Public Health: New York
- 13 Evolution and Genetics: Darwin and Galton
- 14 Furthering the Epidemiology of Social Gradients and Disease: Goldberger and Sydenstricker
- 15 Epidemiology After World War II: New Times, New Problems, New Players
- 16 The Expanded Epidemiology Team: Social Scientists and Statisticians Join Epidemiologists in Social Surveys
- 17 The Arsenal of Observational Methods in Epidemiology: Classical Designs, the Fourfold Table, Cohort and Case-Control Studies
- 18 Epidemiologic Experiments: Natural and Contrived
- 19 New Designs and Models
- 20 Social Science in Epidemiology
- 21 Epidemiologists and Geneticists: A Developing Détente
- 22 Infectious Disease Epidemiology: Beyond Bacteria
- 23 Human Immunodeficiency Virus and the Role of Women: The New Challenge
- 24 Choosing a Future for Epidemiology: I. Eras and Paradigms
- 25 Choosing a Future for Epidemiology: II. From Black Box to Chinese Boxes and Eco-Epidemiology
- 26 The Eco- in Eco-Epidemiology
- Index NOTE: Page references in italics refers to illustrations and tables.
The Scope and Purposes of Epidemiology
The Scope and Purposes of Epidemiology
- Chapter:
- (p.3) 1 The Scope and Purposes of Epidemiology
- Source:
- Eras in Epidemiology
- Author(s):
Mervyn Susser
Zena Stein
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
This chapter presents a brief introduction to the scope of epidemiology and lays the groundwork for subsequent chapters addressing the developments in concepts. The reach of epidemiology extends from describing the impact on health of environment and of the genetic make-up of populations to the many interactions between such factors, and beyond that to measuring the effects of efforts to control and evaluate both medical care systems and individual treatments. The ultimate aspiration of epidemiology, it could be said, is to understand and explain the health states of populations as they unfold over the life course and through history.
Keywords: epidemiological studies, population health, public health, genetic make-up
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- Title Pages
- Preface
- References
- Acknowledgments
- References
- 1 The Scope and Purposes of Epidemiology
- 2 The Relation of Concepts to Causes in Epidemiology
- 3 The Concept of Environment
- 4 Numeracy in Epidemiology
- 5 The French Enlightenment, Epidemiology, and Public Health
- 6 The British Sanitary Movement: Edwin Chadwick
- 7 Vital Statistics: William Farr and the Creation of a System
- 8 Contagion, Infection, and the Idea of Specific Agents
- 9 Origins of a National Public Health System
- 10 Germ Theory, Infection, and Bacteriology
- 11 The Concept of Host and Immunity
- 12 Epidemiology Fully Harnessed to Public Health: New York
- 13 Evolution and Genetics: Darwin and Galton
- 14 Furthering the Epidemiology of Social Gradients and Disease: Goldberger and Sydenstricker
- 15 Epidemiology After World War II: New Times, New Problems, New Players
- 16 The Expanded Epidemiology Team: Social Scientists and Statisticians Join Epidemiologists in Social Surveys
- 17 The Arsenal of Observational Methods in Epidemiology: Classical Designs, the Fourfold Table, Cohort and Case-Control Studies
- 18 Epidemiologic Experiments: Natural and Contrived
- 19 New Designs and Models
- 20 Social Science in Epidemiology
- 21 Epidemiologists and Geneticists: A Developing Détente
- 22 Infectious Disease Epidemiology: Beyond Bacteria
- 23 Human Immunodeficiency Virus and the Role of Women: The New Challenge
- 24 Choosing a Future for Epidemiology: I. Eras and Paradigms
- 25 Choosing a Future for Epidemiology: II. From Black Box to Chinese Boxes and Eco-Epidemiology
- 26 The Eco- in Eco-Epidemiology
- Index NOTE: Page references in italics refers to illustrations and tables.
