Alcohol and alcohol effects: Constituting causality in alcohol epidemiology
Taking cues from Science and Technology Studies, we examine how one type of alcohol epidemiology constitutes the causality of alcohol health effects, and how three realities are made along the way: (1) alcohol is a stable agent that acts consistently to produce quantifiable effects; (2) these effect...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
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Federal Legal Publications, Inc
2014
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/38451 |
| _version_ | 1848755324033433600 |
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| author | Hart, Aaron Moore, David |
| author_facet | Hart, Aaron Moore, David |
| author_sort | Hart, Aaron |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Taking cues from Science and Technology Studies, we examine how one type of alcohol epidemiology constitutes the causality of alcohol health effects, and how three realities are made along the way: (1) alcohol is a stable agent that acts consistently to produce quantifiable effects; (2) these effects may be amplified or diminished by social or other factors but not mediated in other ways; and (3) alcohol effects observable at the population level are priorities for public health. We describe how these propositions are predicated upon several simplifications and that these simplifications have political implications, including the attribution of responsibility for health effects to a pharmacological substance; the deletion of other agentic forces that might share responsibility; and a prioritization of simple effects over complex effects. We argue that epidemiological research on alcohol might expand its range of ontological, epistemological and methodological practices to identify new ways of understanding and addressing health effects. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:54:29Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-38451 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:54:29Z |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publisher | Federal Legal Publications, Inc |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-384512017-11-23T05:48:24Z Alcohol and alcohol effects: Constituting causality in alcohol epidemiology Hart, Aaron Moore, David science and technology studies Alcohol causality effects epidemiology ontology Taking cues from Science and Technology Studies, we examine how one type of alcohol epidemiology constitutes the causality of alcohol health effects, and how three realities are made along the way: (1) alcohol is a stable agent that acts consistently to produce quantifiable effects; (2) these effects may be amplified or diminished by social or other factors but not mediated in other ways; and (3) alcohol effects observable at the population level are priorities for public health. We describe how these propositions are predicated upon several simplifications and that these simplifications have political implications, including the attribution of responsibility for health effects to a pharmacological substance; the deletion of other agentic forces that might share responsibility; and a prioritization of simple effects over complex effects. We argue that epidemiological research on alcohol might expand its range of ontological, epistemological and methodological practices to identify new ways of understanding and addressing health effects. 2014 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/38451 Federal Legal Publications, Inc fulltext |
| spellingShingle | science and technology studies Alcohol causality effects epidemiology ontology Hart, Aaron Moore, David Alcohol and alcohol effects: Constituting causality in alcohol epidemiology |
| title | Alcohol and alcohol effects: Constituting causality in alcohol epidemiology |
| title_full | Alcohol and alcohol effects: Constituting causality in alcohol epidemiology |
| title_fullStr | Alcohol and alcohol effects: Constituting causality in alcohol epidemiology |
| title_full_unstemmed | Alcohol and alcohol effects: Constituting causality in alcohol epidemiology |
| title_short | Alcohol and alcohol effects: Constituting causality in alcohol epidemiology |
| title_sort | alcohol and alcohol effects: constituting causality in alcohol epidemiology |
| topic | science and technology studies Alcohol causality effects epidemiology ontology |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/38451 |