gov3009-l March 2008

gov3009-l@lists.fas.harvard.edu

1 participants
4 discussions

Christakis on "Eat, Drink, and Be Merry: The Spread of Health Phenomena In Social Networks”

by Justin Grimmer

Dear Applied Statistics Workshop, Please join us this Wednesday when Nicholas Christakis--Professor, Department of Sociology (Harvard University) and Medical Sociology (Harvard Medical School)--who will be present "Eat Drink and Be Merry: The Spread of Health Phenomena In Social Networks". Nicholas provided the following abstract: Our work has involved the quantitative investigation of whether and how various health-related phenomena might spread from person to person. For example, we explored the nature and extent of person-to-person spread of obesity. We developed a densely interconnected network of 12,067 people assessed repeatedly from 1971 to 2003. We used longitudinal statistical models and network-scientific methods to examine whether weight gain in one person was associated with weight gain in friends, siblings, spouses, and neighbors. Discernible clusters of obese persons were present in the network at all time points, and the clusters extended three people deep. These clusters were not solely due to selective formation of social ties. A friend becoming obese in a given time interval increased a person's chances of becoming obese by 57% (95% CI: 6%-123%). Among pairs of adult siblings, one becoming obese increased the chance that the other became obese by 40% (21%-60%). Among spouses, one becoming obese increased the likelihood that the other became obese by 37% (7%-73%). Among those working in small firms, a co-worker becoming obese increased a person's chances of becoming obese by 41% (17-59%). Immediate neighbors did not exhibit these effects. We have also conducted similar investigations of other health behaviors, such as smoking, drinking, exercising, and the receipt of health screening, and of other health phenomena, such as happiness and depression. Various aspects of our findings suggest that the spread of social norms may partly underlie inter-personal health effects. Our findings have implications for clinical and public health interventions, and for cost-effectiveness assessments of preventive and therapeutic interventions. They also lay a new foundation for public health by providing a rationale for the claim that health is not just an individual, but also a collective, phenomenon. Nicholas also provided a link to his paper here<http://people.fas.harvard.edu/%7Ejgrimmer/Christakis4208.pdf> The applied statistics workshop meets in room N354 in CGIS-Knafel, (1737 Cambridge st.) A light lunch will be served at 12 noon with the presentation beginning around 1215. Please contact me with any questions Cheers Justin Grimmer

16 years

Kenneth Hill on "Global Health and Global Goals: Do Targets Make a Difference?"

by Justin Grimmer

Dear Applied Statistics Community Please join us this Wednesday as we welcome, Kenneth Hill--Harvard School of Public Health, Department of Population and International Health-- who will present his research "Global Health and Global Goals: Do Targets Make a Difference?" Kenneth provided the following paper as background for his presentation: http://people.fas.harvard.edu/~jgrimmer/Hill319.pdf<http://people.fas.harvard.edu/%7Ejgrimmer/Hill319.pdf> The applied statistics workshop meets in room N-354 in CGIS-Knafel, 1737 Cambridge st. The workshop begins at 12 noon with a light lunch, with presentations usually beginning around 1215. Please contact me with any questions Justin Grimmer

16 years, 1 month

Andy Eggers and Jens Hainmueller on 'Estimating Returns to Office in Post-War British Politics'

by Justin Grimmer

Dear Applied Statistics Community This Wednesday we are excited to welcome Andy Eggers and Jens Hainmueller, Government Department, Harvard University, who will present, "MPs for Sale? Estimating Returns to Office in Post-War British Politics'. Andy and Jens provided the following abstract: While the role of money in policymaking is a central question in political economy research, surprisingly little attention has been given to the rents politicians actually make from politics. Using an original dataset on the size of British politicians' estates, we find that gaining a seat in the House of Commons had a large effect on personal wealth: Conservative Party MPs died with almost twice as much money, on average, as very similar Parliamentary candidates who were defeated. We find no financial benefits for candidates from the Labour party. We argue that Conservative MPs profited from office in a lax regulatory environment by using their political positions to obtain outside work as directors, consultants, and lobbyists, both while in office and after retirement. Our results are consistent with anecdotal evidence on MPs' outside financial dealings but suggest that the magnitude of influence peddling was larger than has been appreciated. The paper is available here: http://people.fas.harvard.edu/~jgrimmer/MPsforsale.pdf<http://people.fas.harvard.edu/%7Ejgrimmer/MPsforsale.pdf> The applied statistics workshop meets in room N-354 in CGIS-Knafel, 1737 Cambridge st. The workshop begins at 12 noon with a light lunch, with presentations usually beginning around 1215. Please contact me with any questions Justin Grimmer

16 years, 1 month

Blitzstein on "In and Out of Network Sampling"

by Justin Grimmer

Dear Applied Statistics Community, Please join us this Wednesday as we welcome Joseph Blitzstein, Department of Statistics, Harvard University, who will present 'In and Out of Network Sampling'. Joe provided the following abstract for his talk , In recent years it has become extremely common to need to work with network data, in applications such as the study of social networks, protein interaction networks, and the Internet. This has required the development of new generative models such as exponential random graph models and power law models. Yet it is usually prohibitively expensive to observe or work with the full network, so sampling within the network is generally required. Various approaches to network sampling, such as respondent-driven sampling, have been proposed. But when will the generative mode mesh well with the sampling scheme? This question is crucial for reliable inference about networks, yet the question is seldom addressed and much remains unknown. We will discuss generating random networks and sampling within a network, and their interactions. Based on joint work with Ben Olding. The workshop will begin at 12 noon with a light lunch and the presentation will begin at 1215. The workshop is help in room N354, CGIS-Knafel, 1737 Cambridge St. Please Contact me with any questions Cheers Justin Grimmer

16 years, 1 month

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gov3009-l March 2008