Old measure, new approach.Measurement of socioeconomic status socioeconomic status, n the position of an individual on a socio-economic scale that measures such factors as education, income, type of occupation, place of residence, and in some populations, ethnicity and religion. is a fairly standard component of public health and social science research; how socioeconomic status is defined and measured, however, is anything but. After examining standard approaches to measuring socioeconomic status, and their flaws, one group of researchers concludes that "health research could be improved significantly with a more conceptually and empirically sound approach." (1) Such an approach would be geared to specific outcomes and social groups, and would involve considering causal causal /cau·sal/ (kaw´z'l) pertaining to, involving, or indicating a cause. causal relating to or emanating from cause. mechanisms, gathering as much socioeconomic so·ci·o·ec·o·nom·ic adj. Of or involving both social and economic factors. socioeconomic Adjective of or involving economic and social factors Adj. 1. data as possible, being clear about the specific measures assessed and carefully considering the potential importance of unmeasured socioeconomic factors. (1.) Braveman PA et al., Socioeconomic status in health research: one size does not fit all, Journal of the American Medical Association JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association is an international peer-reviewed general medical journal, published 48 times per year by the American Medical Association. JAMA is the most widely circulated medical journal in the world. , 2005, 294(22): 2879-2888. |
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