@article{8f64bc719b134ba3a4819bbcb3e5a2e5,
title = "Reconciling Statistical and Systems Science Approaches to Public Health",
abstract = "Although systems science has emerged as a set of innovative approaches to study complex phenomena, many topically focused researchers including clinicians and scientists working in public health are somewhat befuddled by this methodology that at times appears to be radically different from analytic methods, such as statistical modeling, to which the researchers are accustomed. There also appears to be conflicts between complex systems approaches and traditional statistical methodologies, both in terms of their underlying strategies and the languages they use. We argue that the conflicts are resolvable, and the sooner the better for the field. In this article, we show how statistical and systems science approaches can be reconciled, and how together they can advance solutions to complex problems. We do this by comparing the methods within a theoretical framework based on the work of population biologist Richard Levins. We present different types of models as representing different tradeoffs among the four desiderata of generality, realism, fit, and precision.",
keywords = "Levins framework, agent-based model, childhood obesity, complex systems, computational model, social network analysis, statistical model, system dynamics model",
author = "Ip, {Edward H.} and Hazhir Rahmandad and Shoham, {David A.} and Ross Hammond and Huang, {Terry T.K.} and Youfa Wang and Mabry, {Patricia L.}",
note = "Funding Information: This work was done as part of the Envision Network, which is part of the National Collaborative on Childhood Obesity Research (NCCOR). NCCOR coordinates childhood obesity research across the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). This work was supported in part by grants from NIH grants 1U01HL101066-01 and 1R21AG042761-01 (Ip); NIH/OBSSR contract HHSN276201000004C (Rahmandad); NIH grant R01HD061978 (Shoham); NIH grant 1R01HD08023(Hammond); NIH grants U54HD070725 and 1R01HD064685-01A1 (Wang). This work is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not represent official views of the Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research, the National Institutes of Health or any of the NCCOR member organizations. Funding Information: This article is published in the Health Education & Behavior supplement, Systems Science Applications in Health Promotion and Public Health, which was supported under contract HHSN276201200329P by the National Institutes of Health Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, the Fogarty International Center, the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute on Dental and Craniofacial Research, and the National Institute on Aging.",
year = "2013",
doi = "10.1177/1090198113493911",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "40",
pages = "123S--131S",
journal = "Health Education Quarterly",
issn = "1090-1981",
publisher = "SAGE Publications Inc.",
number = "1 SUPPL.",
}