Foundations and Research Methods in Social Epidemiology

Social epidemiology is the branch of epidemiology concerned with the way that social structures, institutions and relationships influence health. It focuses on the social forces that contribute to the distribution of disease, including the analysis of well-known exposures (e.g. pollution, lifestyle) and how they emerge and are sustained through social factors. This course will introduce Social Epidemiology, including theories and methods widely used in the field. It offers an overview of mechanisms in which social factors influence health, frameworks in social epidemiology, and how to measure social factors and identify health inequalities. Last, but not least, the course aims to link methods in social epidemiology and demography through the study of population health considering social factors at multiple levels, from the micro to the macro levels.

Course leader

María Andrée López Gómez. She is an Occupational Health Epidemiologist with a background in Public Health, Sociology and Demography, and Occupational Health (PhD). She focuses her work on work-related social determinants of health.

Target group

The course will be useful to Master students, pre-doctoral students, postdoctoral researchers and anyone interested in social epidemiology and population health.

Course aim

Upon completion of the course, students will be able to understand theories and research methods of the social determinants of health, and use theoretical approaches and frameworks to study health inequalities. Students will learn about mechanisms in which social factors impact health and critically assess which methods to investigate these connections.