Kwok R K, Yankaskas B C
Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7515, USA.
Ann Epidemiol. 2001 Apr;11(3):171-7. doi: 10.1016/s1047-2797(00)00205-2.
Little research has examined the validity of using census data to determine an individual's socio-economic status (SES), as measured by race and educational level. This study assessed the accuracy of using aggregate level data from United States Census Block Groups in determining race and education SES indicators in a cohort of women from North Carolina.
The study analyzed patient data from the Carolina Mammography Registry and 1990 United States Census in 21 North Carolina counties. Women (n = 39,546) were geocoded to their census block group and their block group characteristics (surrogate measures) were validated with their self-reported values on race and education. An analysis was performed to explore whether using these surrogate measures would affect measured associations with the self-reported values.
Whites were accurately identified (84.8%) more consistently than Blacks (14.1%) regardless of their urban/rural status. Women without a high school diploma or equivalent were accurately identified (56.2%) more often than those with higher education levels (45.9%). Analyses using the surrogate measures were significantly different than the true values according to chi-square statistics.
Use of census data to derive SES indicators tends to be more accurate for the majority than the minority population. Researchers must be sensitive to the ecologic fallacy when using aggregate level data such as the census to determine individual level characteristics.
很少有研究检验过使用人口普查数据来确定个体社会经济地位（SES，通过种族和教育水平衡量）的有效性。本研究评估了利用美国人口普查街区组的汇总数据来确定北卡罗来纳州一组女性的种族和教育SES指标的准确性。
该研究分析了北卡罗来纳州21个县的卡罗来纳乳腺摄影登记处的患者数据和1990年美国人口普查数据。将女性（n = 39,546）按地理编码到她们的人口普查街区组，并将其街区组特征（替代指标）与她们自我报告的种族和教育值进行验证。进行了一项分析，以探讨使用这些替代指标是否会影响与自我报告值的测量关联。
无论城市/农村状态如何，白人被准确识别的比例（84.8%）比黑人（14.1%）更一致。没有高中文凭或同等学历的女性被准确识别的比例（56.2%）比受过高等教育的女性（45.9%）更高。根据卡方统计，使用替代指标的分析结果与真实值有显著差异。
使用人口普查数据得出SES指标对多数人群往往比对少数人群更准确。研究人员在使用如人口普查这样的汇总数据来确定个体水平特征时，必须对生态学谬误保持敏感。
