An Ecological Analysis of Urban Mortality Rates
In: Social science quarterly, Band 52, Heft 3, S. 574-587
ISSN: 0038-4941
The ecological r's of neighborhood mortality levels in a large Ur center are examined. The focus is upon the identification of the relative contribution of demographic, environmental, & soc org'al variables to the explanation of diff's in Ur subarea death rates. Data was derived from the city of Columbus, Ohio. A causal model of path analysis is developed that links mortality to a network of demographic, environmental, & soc phenomena. Through the study of the total network of relationships among the variables, more insight may be gained into the mechanisms through which soc, demographic, & environmental factors influence Ur mortality rates. It is hoped that this approach will aid in a fuller theoretical understanding of diff'ial Ur mortality & lay the ground-work for more comprehensive attacks upon excessive local mortality levels. Analysis involved multiple r regression from which the collective impact of the variables upon mortality as well as the general contribution of each independent variable to mortality's explanation were assessed. Then a causal ordering of key independent variables was hyp'ed on the basis of both the r analysis & past res. This was graphically depicted in a path diagram. Then the path coefficients called for in the model were solved, the model was modified on the basis of the calculated path values by eliminating low values & the coefficients specified in the revised model were calculated. The r matrix based on the revised model was developed, & the predicted r was compared with those originally observed; the adequacy of the model was thereby confirmed. Through tabular analysis of combinations of key independent variables the conditions were specified under which Ur mortality levels are the highest. It is found that mortality rates are sensitive to the total soc & ecological system in general, & to problems of poverty, poor housing, & aging in particular. 3 Tables, 2 Figures. M. Maxfield.