Ecology and the Statistical Method
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2198560 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Frank Alexander Ro, Frank Alexander Ross (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1933 |
| Volume | 38 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 507-522 |
| Publication date | 1933-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Journal of Sociology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0002-9602 • E-ISSN: 1537-5390 |
| Publisher | University of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1086/216174 |
| OpenAlex | W2002970826 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
The ecologist is warned against a number of statistical dangers-the temptation to use insufficient cases, the failure to account for such variables as age and sex, and the possibility of overlooking the importance differential population mobility. The study of insanity by the younger Fairs is taken for illustration. Comparing the rates of insanity in the various areas, the differences are found, by applying the method of the "standard error," to be insignificant or attributable to chance in a large fraction of cases. By combining closely similar areas into larger units chance differences disappear in all but four instances. The influence of age and sex is strongly suggested in the case of Hobohemia where insanity rates are much higher than in all other areas. Two corrective devices are available: grouping the population and cases in the sex and broad-age classes, and standardizing the rates for age and sex. The scarcity of the cases makes either method unsatisfactory here. In deriving rates by taking the number of commitments during a year and the population as of a given day no consideration is given to transiency of population. In the case of Hobohemia the rate would be excessive since population changes rapidly and commitments would come during a year from a population much greater than the one used. Transiency affected the rate for Negroes also, and for Suburbania. An adequate device for measuring the influence of this varible needs to be developed
Biology · Fraction (chemistry) · Geography · Insanity · Population · Psychiatry · Sex ratio · Sociology · Statistics · Temptation · Demography · Ecology · Ecosystem dynamics and resilience · Mathematics · Psychology · Social Psychology
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,06 |
| Citation span | 1962 - 1971 (10) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |