Toward Some Fundamentals of Fundamental
Causality: Socioeconomic Status and Health
in the Routine Clinic Visit for Diabetes
Karen Lutfey
Abstract
The concept of "fundamental causality" has gained increasing attention
as a way of understanding the relationship between socioeconomic
status (SES) and health outcomes. Using enthnographic
data from a comparative study of two diabetes clinics, the authors
further develop the fundamental cause concept in three ways. First,
they provide an exposition of the constituent claims implied by an
assertion of fundamental causality. Second, they show how ethnographic
data can be used to explicate such claims by showing some
of the mechanisms that might operate to preserve the fundamental
relationship in diabetes treatment regimens. Finally, they offer elaborations
and refinements of the fundamental cause concept.
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