Abstract
Ecological studies have been evaluated in epidemiological contexts in terms of the "ecological fallacy." Although the empirical evidence for a lack of comparability between correlations derived from ecological- and individual-level analyses is compelling, the conceptual meaning of the ecological fallacy remains problematic. This paper argues that issues in cross-level inference can be usefully conceptualized as validity problems, problems not peculiar to ecological-level analyses. Such an approach increases the recognition of both potential inference problems in individual-level studies and the unique contributions of ecological variables. This, in turn, expands the terrain for the location of causes for disease and interventions to improve the public's health.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Bahnson C. B. Epistemological perspectives of physical disease from the psychodynamic point of view. Am J Public Health. 1974 Nov;64(11):1034–1040. doi: 10.2105/ajph.64.11.1034. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Kasl S. V. Mortality and the business cycle: some questions about research strategies when utilizing macro-social and ecological data. Am J Public Health. 1979 Aug;69(8):784–788. doi: 10.2105/ajph.69.8.784. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Morgenstern H. Uses of ecologic analysis in epidemiologic research. Am J Public Health. 1982 Dec;72(12):1336–1344. doi: 10.2105/ajph.72.12.1336. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]