Excerpt

New kids on the block! This volume spreads the word. Population-based sample surveys that combine demographic, social, and behavioral data with biological indicators have arrived in town. The subtitle of the precursor to this volume, Cells and Surveys, was the question “Should biological measures be included in social science research?” In practice, that question seems to be already answered: yes. Social surveys that include the collection of biological data have proliferated since that volume's publication in 2001. Are these new studies going to be our friends?

Contents

• THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
• COMMITTEE ON ADVANCES IN COLLECTING AND UTILIZING BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS AND GENETIC INFORMATION IN SOCIAL SCIENCE SURVEYS
• COMMITTEE ON POPULATION 2006-2007
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
  James W. Vaupel, Kenneth W. Wachter, and Maxine Weinstein.
  • WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED SO FAR?
  • WHAT ABOUT GENETICS IN SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH?
  • WHAT'S NEXT?
  • REFERENCES
• I. What We've Learned So Far
  • 1. Biological Indicators and Genetic Information in Danish Twin and Oldest-Old Surveys
    Kaare Christensen, Lise Bathum, and Lene Christiansen.
    • CHALLENGES IN THE SEARCH FOR DETERMINANTS OF HEALTHY AGING AND LONGEVITY
    • THE DANISH SURVEYS OF TWINS AND THE OLDEST-OLD
    • IMPORTANT FINDINGS DUE TO INCLUSION OF BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS IN THE DANISH SURVEYS
    • STUDIES OF BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS FOR HEALTHY AGING USING SELECTED SUBGROUPS IN THE SURVEYS
    • SURVEYS AS A SCREENING INSTRUMENT TO IDENTIFY CASES FOR ANCILLARY STUDIES
    • A NEW BIOLOGICAL INDICATOR OF AGING: PERCEIVED AGE
    • OTHER BIOMARKERS
    • CONCLUSION
    • REFERENCES
  • 2. Whitehall II and ELSA: Integrating Epidemiological and Psychobiological Approaches to the Assessment of Biological Indicators
    Michael Marmot and Andrew Steptoe.
    • BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS IN WHITEHALL II AND ELSA
    • WHITEHALL PSYCHOBIOLOGY STUDY
    • INTERCHANGE BETWEEN EPIDEMIOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOBIOLOGICAL STUDIES
    • LIMITATIONS TO THE USE OF BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS
    • PRACTICAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES
    • CONCLUSIONS: HARD AND SOFT DATA
    • REFERENCES
  • 3. The Taiwan Biomarker Project
    Ming-Cheng Chang, Dana A. Glei, Noreen Goldman, and Maxine Weinstein.
    • OVERVIEW OF THE PROJECT
    • PROJECT LOGISTICS
    • SUBSTANTIVE FINDINGS AND NONFINDINGS
    • LIMITATIONS
    • SUMMARY
    • REFERENCES
  • 4. Elastic Powers: The Integration of Biomarkers into the Health and Retirement Study
    David Weir.
    • AGING, DEMOGRAPHICS, AND MEMORY STUDY
    • DIABETES STUDY
    • FACE-TO-FACE INTERVIEWS
    • CONCLUSION
    • REFERENCES
  • 5. An Overview of Biomarker Research from Community and Population-Based Studies on Aging
    Jennifer R. Harris, Tara L. Gruenewald, and Teresa Seeman.
    • BIOMARKERS IN COMMUNITY- OR POPULATION-BASED STUDIES
    • BIOMARKERS AND AGING
    • GENETIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES ON RISK FACTORS FOR CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE
    • SOCIAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS
    • BEHAVIOR GENETICS
    • BIOMARKERS OF COGNITIVE AGING
    • BIOMARKERS OF PHYSICAL FUNCTION AND AGING
    • INDICES OF CUMULATIVE BIOLOGICAL RISK
    • RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BIOMARKERS AND GENETIC PLEIOTROPY
    • SUMMARY AND FUTURE DIRECTION
    • REFERENCES
  • 6. The Women's Health Initiative: Lessons for the Population Study of Biomarkers
    Robert B. Wallace.
    • STRUCTURE OF THE WHI
    • SPECIMEN ACQUISITION AND THE INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARD
    • MANAGING BIOMARKER STUDIES
    • ADDITIONAL APPLICATIONS FOR BIOMARKER STUDIES IN WHI
    • STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF BIOMARKERS STUDIES USING CLINCAL TRIAL POPULATIONS
    • CONCLUSION
    • REFERENCES
  • 7. Comments on Collecting and Utilizing Biological Indicators in Social Science Surveys
    Duncan Thomas and Elizabeth Frankenberg.
    • CHALLENGES FOR THE FUTURE
    • CONCLUSION
    • REFERENCES
  • 8. Biomarkers in Social Science Research on Health and Aging: A Review of Theory and Practice
    Douglas C. Ewbank.
    • SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL STRESS
    • BIOLOGICAL ROBUSTNESS
    • SELECTING THE MOST USEFUL BIOMARKERS
    • BIOMARKERS IN A LIFE-CYCLE CONTEXT
    • A FEW WORDS OF CAUTION
    • CONCLUDING COMMENTS
    • REFERENCES
• II. The Potential and Pitfalls of Genetic Information
  • 9. Are Genes Good Markers of Biological Traits?
    Mary Jane West-Eberhard.
    • VALUE OF A DEVELOPMENTAL-EVOLUTIONARY PERSPECTIVE FOR GENETIC ANALYSES OF TRAITS
    • GENETIC STRUCTURE OF A TRAIT
    • SINGLE-GENE TRAIT MARKERS: THE MEANING OF A GENE “FOR” A TRAIT
    • QUANTITATIVE TRAIT MARKERS: LONGEVITY GENES
    • GENETIC MARKERS: CRITERIA AND TRAPS
    • MARKERS OR MARKETING?
    • REFERENCES
  • 10. Genetic Markers in Social Science Research: Opportunities and Pitfalls
    George P. Vogler and Gerald E. McClearn.
    • INCORPORATION OF DNA COLLECTION INTO SOCIAL SCIENCE SURVEYS
    • COMPLEXITY OF THE COACTION OF GENES AND ENVIRONMENT
    • POTENTIAL ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES
    • ETHICAL ISSUES
    • WHAT CAN ONE LEARN FROM DNA IN SOCIAL SCIENCE SURVEYS?
    • REFERENCES
  • 11. Comments on the Utility of Social Science Surveys for the Discovery and Validation of Genes Influencing Complex Traits
    Harald H.H. Göring.
    • ETIOLOGICAL ARCHITECTURE OF COMPLEX TRAITS
    • STUDY DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS FOR COMPLEX TRAIT GENE IDENTIFICATION
    • GENE EXPRESSION LEVELS AS AN EXAMPLE OF EXTREME ENDOPHENOTYPES
    • SOCIAL SCIENCE SURVEYS: A TOOL FOR GENE DISCOVERY OR VALIDATION?
    • CONCLUSION
    • REFERENCES
  • 12. Overview Thoughts on Genetics: Walking the Line Between Denial and Dreamland, or Genes Are Involved in Everything, But Not Everything Is “Genetic”
    Kenneth M. Weiss.
    • LEARNING FROM THE FACTS
    • SNATCHING VICTORY FROM FAILURE
    • DENIAL VERSUS DREAMING
    • BIOETHICS
    • CONCLUSION
    • REFERENCES
• III. New Ways of Collecting, Applying, and Thinking About Data
  • 13. Minimally Invasive and Innovative Methods for Biomeasure Collection in Population-Based Research
    Stacy Tessler Lindau and Thomas W. McDade.
    • ISSUES IN THE APPLICATION OF MINIMALLY INVASIVE METHODS
    • BIOMEASURES AND TECHNOLOGIES WITH ESTABLISHED USE IN THE POPULATION SETTING
    • TRANSLATION OF ESTABLISHED CLINICAL TECHNOLOGIES TO THE POPULATION SETTING
    • TRANSLATION OF EMERGING AND EXPERIMENTAL METHODS TO THE POPULATION SETTING
    • ADJUNCT METHODS
    • CONCLUSION
    • REFERENCES
  • 14. Nutrigenomics
    John Milner, Elaine B. Trujillo, Christine M. Kaefer, and Sharon Ross.
    • NUTRIGENOMICS
    • BIOMARKERS
    • ETHICS
    • CONCLUSION
    • REFERENCES
  • 15. Genoeconomics
    Daniel J. Benjamin, Christopher F. Chabris, Edward L. Glaeser, Vilmundur Gudnason, Tamara B. Harris, David I. Laibson, Lenore J. Launer, and Shaun Purcell.
    • METHODOLOGICAL CHALLENGES AND PITFALLS
    • AGES-REYKJAVIK STUDY COLLABORATION
    • CONCLUSION
    • REFERENCES
  • 16. Mendelian Randomization: Genetic Variants as Instruments for Strengthening Causal Inference in Observational Studies
    George Davey Smith and Shah Ebrahim.
    • LIMITS OF OBSERVATIONAL EPIDEMIOLOGY
    • MENDELIAN RANDOMIZATION
    • PROBLEMS AND LIMITATIONS OF MENDELIAN RANDOMICZATION
    • CONCLUSIONS: MENDELIAN RANDOMIZATION, WHAT IT IS, AND WHAT IT IS NOT
    • REFERENCES
  • 17. Multilevel Investigations: Conceptual Mappings and Perspectives
    John T. Cacioppo, Gary G. Berntson, and Ronald A. Thisted.
    • CONFLUENCE OF DATA MATRICES
    • MAPPING ACROSS LEVELS OF REPRESENTATION
    • CONCLUSION
    • REFERENCES
  • 18. Genomics and Beyond: Improving Understanding and Analysis of Human (Social, Economic, and Demographic) Behavior
    John Hobcraft.
    • SOME ISSUES IN BEHAVIORAL GENOMICS
    • COMPLEXITY AND SIMPLIFICATION IN SOCIAL SCIENCE
    • CONCLUSION
    • REFERENCES
• Appendix Biographical Sketches of Contributors

This study was supported by Contract No. N01-4-OD-2139 between the National Academy of Sciences and the National Institutes of Health and National Institute on Aging.

Suggested citation:

National Research Council. (2008). Biosocial Surveys. Committee on Advances in Collecting and Utilizing Biological Indicators and Genetic Information in Social Science Surveys. M. Weinstein, J.W. Vaupel, and K.W. Wachter, Eds. Committee on Population, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

Any opinions, findings, conclusion, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organization or agencies that provided support for the project.

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.