Abstract #301782

This is the preliminary program for the 2003 Joint Statistical Meetings in San Francisco, California. Currently included in this program is the "technical" program, schedule of invited, topic contributed, regular contributed and poster sessions; Continuing Education courses (August 2-5, 2003); and Committee and Business Meetings. This on-line program will be updated frequently to reflect the most current revisions.

To View the Program:
You may choose to view all activities of the program or just parts of it at any one time. All activities are arranged by date and time.

The views expressed here are those of the individual authors
and not necessarily those of the ASA or its board, officers, or staff.

Back to main JSM 2003 Program page
JSM 2003 Abstract #301782
Activity Number: 417
Type: Contributed
Date/Time: Wednesday, August 6, 2003 : 2:00 PM to 3:50 PM
Sponsor: Section on Teaching of Statistics in the Health Sciences
Abstract - #301782
Title: Design Issues in Ecological/Aggregate Data Studies
Author(s): Sebastien J. P. A. Haneuse*+ and Jon C. Wakefield
Companies: University of Washington and University of Washington
Address: Dept. of Biostatistics, Seattle, WA, 98195,
Keywords: ecological study ; aggregate data ; study design
Abstract:

Ecological (aggregate data) studies have a long history in the scientific literature, with focus on biases that arise from aggregation of individuals into groups. Bias may be tied down by understanding within group covariate distributions. Richardson et al. (1987) consider a parametric model, while Prentice and Sheppard (1995) introduced a semiparametric approach. Both rely on subsamples to estimate covariate distributions. Losses in precision, via the information matrix, have been considered by Sheppard and Prentice (1995) and Sheppard (2003), in the public health context of breast cancer/fat intake, as well as by Steele et a. (2003) in the social science context of age/income. We examine issues of study design, via maximizing the information, in the context of semi-ecological air pollution studies. In such studies, aggregated exposure measures are typically available, with individual level outcome/covariate data. Such associations have been found to be typically small, so that precision becomes important. Optimal choices of sub-samples (i.e., how many from each area) can lead to more accurate estimates. Such choices can depend on observed data as well as relative group sizes.

  • The address information is for the authors that have a + after their name.
  • Authors who are presenting talks have a * after their name.

Back to the full JSM 2003 program

JSM 2003 For information, contact meetings@amstat.org or phone (703) 684-1221. If you have questions about the Continuing Education program, please contact the Education Department.
Revised March 2003