Part 1:
1.Choose a paper describing the development or validation of a measure of relevance in health disparities research (please give the full citation and/or upload the paper if that's possible).
Kirschbaum, Clemens, Antje Tietze, Nadine Skoluda, and Lucia Dettenborn. "Hair as a Retrospective Calendar of Cortisol Production—Increased Cortisol Incorporation into Hair in the Third Trimester of Pregnancy." Psychoneuroendocrinology 34.1 (2009): 32-37. Web
2.What was the definition of the construct?
The paper investigates tools to measure cortisol level from hair. Also, the authors provide support for the accumulation of this hormone in hair, and suggest that cortisol may be used as a biomarker for stress. The authors measured cortisol levels when mothers were giving birth and compared these measurements with the control group.
3.How did the authors provide evidence on the validity of the measure? Could you think of additional approaches to validating the measure?
The researchers measured cortisol with ELISA, and they used statistical analysis such as ANOVA to test for repeated measures, and Greenhouse-Geisser correction for testing the groups and differences in cortisol level measurements. I would have measured the mother’s perceived stress to correlate that scale with cortisol levels. Also, I would have measured cortisol using mass spectrometry since I think is more precise.
4.How did the authors provide evidence on the reliability of the measure? Could you think of additional approaches to evaluating the reliability of the measure?
The authors used several previous studies to provide evidence on the reliability of the measurement. Also, in previous research, hair was used to detect presence of drugs in individuals, so the authors postulated that perhaps cortisol may be detected as well.
5. Describe the implications of a lack of measurement validity or reliability for future research applications.
If there is a lack of measurement validity for future research applications, researchers would not be able to reliably measure cortisol levels from hair and we would not be able to measure chronic stress.
1.Find a paper describing a health disparity (please give the full citation or upload the paper)
Geronimus, Arline T., Margaret T. Hicken, Jay A. Pearson, Sarah J. Seashols, Kelly L. Brown, and Tracey Dawson Cruz. "Do US Black Women Experience Stress-Related Accelerated Biological Aging?" Hum Nat Human Nature 21.1 (2010): 19-38.
2.Summarize the construct and measurement of the dimension of disparity (e.g., race, SES) and the outcome measured (e.g., self-rated health).
This paper explored how chronic stress affect biological aging in African American women and compare this relationships with that of white women of same chronological age.
3.What is the evidence for the validity and reliability of the measures?
I think there is no validity just an association of the variables of interest. Other studies have shown that telomere length may be associated with measuring biological aging. As we age and as cells divide, telomeres tend to shorten. The author used a perceived Stress Scale to determined stress level.
4.What is the reference category used for the disparity measure? Why does this reference category make sense (or not) for this research question?
The researchers used non-Hispanic white middle age females. It makes sense to use this reference category because authors were interested to see if there is a disparity between the dominant/privilege group versus African American.
5.How is the disparity quantified? Is this an absolute or relative measure or are both provided? Describe which type of measure you would prefer for this research area, or, if both, why.
The disparity was quantify by looking at how many nucleotides African American women lose from their chromosomes’ ends due to chronic stress and compared this data to the results of the reference category. I think researchers used a relative measure to quantify the disparities. I think I would use the relative measure because an obsolute approach may not be possible since we cannot really prove results.