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Biomedical subjects

D Cahalan

Publications and source records attributed to D Cahalan.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

The making of a sociomedical scientist (Jack Elinson).

Publishing this festschrift for Jack Elinson in Social Science and Medicine is especially appropriate at this time, not only because it gives an opportunity to those who have known him for many years to express their appreciation of his many significant contributions as a scientist and humanist, but also because an exploration of the influences which contributed to his successful career should provide further insight into what it takes to be able to be effective in breaking new ground in the sociomedical sciences. The notes which follow are written from the standpoint of one who has been a personal friend of Jack's over a 40-year span, sharing many of the same types of experiences in meandering toward a career during the pioneering stages of bringing scientific method to bear in the development of public opinion and behavior sampling surveys beginning in the mid-1930s.

History, 20th Century

Studying drinking problems rather than alcoholism.

This chapter focuses primarily on the implications of quantitative, nonclinical studies of drinking practices and problems in planning primary prevention programs. The discussion utilizes the findings of the national probability surveys, directed by the author and his colleagues over the last 20 years, to illustrate how vastly different the survey findings are from studies of clinical alcoholics in terms of prevalence among various age and subcultural groups, and how longitudinal studies have cast question on much of the predictive utility of the disease concept of alcoholism. In closing, the chapter draws attention to the importance of cross-cultural surveys, conducted at intervals, in achieving greater success in primary prevention of severe physical and social problems associated with overconsumption of alcohol.

Alcohol Drinking