New Directions in the Sociology of Aging (2013) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
13 The Challenge of Social Genomics: A Commentary on "Social Genomics and the Life Course: Opportunities and Challenges for Multilevel Population Research"--Jason Schnittker
13 The Challenge of Social Genomics: A Commentary on "Social Genomics and the Life Course: Opportunities and Challenges for Multilevel Population Research"--Jason Schnittker
Pages 277-283
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 277... ...
The positive tone is entirely appropriate given the very high upside of social genomics: In principle, social genomics will circumvent the silos created by disciplines, encourage a robust multilevel approach, and allow population scientists to explain health-related phenomena rather than merely describe them. No less important is the possibility of new discoveries, which the framework has, in my opinion, already delivered on (including in Shanahan's excellent empirical work)
|
From page 278... ...
Yet there are risks to demanding a full account that proceeds from the macro to the micro or to thinking that social effects are weak or superficial in absence of a complete biological explanation. For one, the provisionality Shanahan identifies with respect to causal inference in the social sciences applies as much to biological processes as social ones, resulting in uncertainty at all levels.
|
From page 279... ...
Shanahan is sensitive to these issues and concludes his chapter by discussing several topics for future research, including how possibly to refine measures of social risk factors, the specificity of causes and effects, and the value of comparative studies. It is notable, however, that these discussions become increasingly speculative, and Shanahan has fewer empirical examples the further he moves away from influences that lie beneath the skin.
|
From page 280... ...
If stress has a prominent transcriptional fingerprint, as Shanahan notes, SES has an enormous mortality footprint. Lest researchers disregard genes or environments altogether, motivating interaction effects should perhaps take a back-seat to motivating main effects.
|
From page 281... ...
But if social genomics is fundamentally about illuminating mediational pathways, it would do just as well to remind social scientists that the mind is important as to remind them that genes are important, and the former can be considered without the latter. Indeed, the literature risks misplaced specificity by focusing on genetic transcription, and, in the process of further reduction over consecutive stages, risks overlooking other important influences.
|
From page 282... ...
Furthermore, the reluctance of some disciplines to integrate genomics is very closely related to the reluctance of the same disciplines to integrate psychology: In both cases, social scientists fear explaining behavior in terms of individual attributes rather than social structures, or in terms of dispositions rather than constraints. Yet the empirical foundation of psychology is strong, long-standing, and sophisticated in ways that are not dissimilar to the foundation of social genomics.
|
From page 283... ...
, stressful life events, and risk of depression. Journal of the American Medical Association, 301, 2,462-2,471.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.