Policy Press

The handbook of inequality and socioeconomic position

Concepts and measures

By Mary Shaw, Bruna Galobardes, Debbie A. Lawlor, John Lynch, Ben Wheeler and George Davey Smith

Published

Jun 13, 2007

Page count

248 pages

Browse the series

Health and Society

ISBN

978-1861347664

Dimensions

240 x 172 mm

Imprint

Policy Press
The handbook of inequality and socioeconomic position

This Handbook is the definitive resource for anyone wishing to quickly look up and understand key concepts and measurements relating to socioeconomic position and inequalities.

A range of key concepts is defined and measures of socioeconomic position and inequality described. Alphabetical listings, cross-referencing, graphs and worked examples, references to web and other sources of further information, all contribute to making the Handbook both engaging and accessible for a wide audience.

For students, academics and others involved in social science research it answers questions such as:

· 'What's the official government measure of poverty?'

· 'What factors make up the Townsend Index of Deprivation?'

· 'What is a gini coefficient?'

· 'I have to write a report on tackling inequalities in my area - what are the key issues I should consider before I begin?'

For practitioners, policy makers, journalists and others who must read, understand and use research in fields as diverse as health, criminology, education, the environment, transport and housing it provides a one-stop, authoritative guide to making sense of and evaluating the significance of often complex methodologies.

The authors are all eminent researchers in the field of health inequalities. They have together produced two glossaries for the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health and have published a large number of books and articles in learned academic journals.

"For those wanting an accurate but handy handbook for quickly understanding core issues and getting on with analyses or action, this new text will be of great use." J. Michael Oakes, International Journal of Epidemiology

"It would be impossible to find a better overview in one volume...this handbook deserves a place in every pocket, briefcase and department wherever there is a need to complement passion and persuasion with method and measurement" David Pencheon, Director, Eastern Region Public Health Observatory

The authors are all eminent researchers in the field of health inequalities. They have together produced two glossaries for the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health and have published a large number of books and articles in learned academic journals.

Health and Society series

This series includes a wide range of publications, drawn from various theoretical perspectives and using different forms of evidence. Each addresses the diversity of factors which determine population health and how these operate in economic, political, social and cultural contexts.

Introduction; Part one: Key concepts: Deprivation; Ethnicity; Health equity audits/profiles; Inequality/equality; Inequity/equity; Lay epidemiology; Life course socioeconomic position; Living standards; Official/vital statistics; Poverty; Psychosocial factors; Segregation; Social capital; Social class; Social exclusion; Social mobility; Social status; Social stratification; Status inconsistency; Wealth; Part two: Measures of socioeconomic position: Amenities; Benefit claimants; Breadline Britain and the Millennium Survey of Poverty and Social Exclusion; Cambridge Scale; Car access and ownership; Carstairs deprivation index; Child poverty: the official government measure; Deprivation indices; Education; Erikson and Goldthorpe class schema; Fuel poverty; Housing conditions; Housing status (including homelessness); Housing tenure; Housing wealth; Income; Index of local conditions; Index of local deprivation (1998); Indices of deprivation (2000); Indices of deprivation (2004); Jarman UPA index; Job (in)security; National Statistics Socioeconomic Classification (NS-SEC); Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure; Occupation-based measures; Occupational Social Class - RGSC; Overcrowding; Poverty: the official government measure; Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2004; Townsend Index of deprivation; Unemployment; Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation; Part three: Measures of inequality: Absolute differences; Dissimilarity Index; Gini coefficient; Households below average income; Index of disparity; Measures of average disproportionality; Range; Relative concentration index; Relative index of inequality; Slope index of inequality; Standardised outcomes; Theil Index and Mean Log Deviation; Part four: Theoretical and methodological issues: Age-period cohort effects; Atomistic fallacy; Bar charts; Box and Whisker graphs; Cartogram; Choropleth map; Correlation coefficients; Ecological fallacy; Funnel plots; GIS; Incidence; Line graphs; Percentages; Populations; Prevalence; Proportional Mortality Ratio; Proportions; Scatterplots.