Statistical Generalizations in Epidemiology: Philosophical Analysis
Publication date
2025-10-01
Authors
Russo, Federica
Editors
Schramme, Thomas
Walker, Mary Jean
Advisors
Supervisors
Document Type
Part of book
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taverne
Abstract
Epidemiology studies the variations in health in populations, according to different factors and parameters. In this field, probability and statistics are used in order to provide a quantitative description and analysis of the variations in exposure and disease, as well as of the effects of possible preventatives. Thus, one goal of epidemiology is to establish statistical generalizations about health and disease in populations. Consequently, it is important to understand how statistical generalizations are established and what use one can make of them to establish medical knowledge or to design public health policies.
Keywords
Confounding, Correlation vs Causation, Public health intervention, Reference class, Risk, Statistical generalization, Variation, Taverne, General Arts and Humanities, General Psychology, General Agricultural and Biological Sciences, SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
Citation
Russo, F 2025, Statistical Generalizations in Epidemiology : Philosophical Analysis. in T Schramme & M J Walker (eds), Handbook of the Philosophy of Medicine. Springer, pp. 1139-1154. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-2252-8_39