title: The measurement of alcohol-related accidents.
abstract: This paper examines some of the major ethical and research issues associated with the measurement and recording of alcohol-related problems. Because self-reports of the history of the amount of alcohol ingested are sometimes unreliable, the assessment of the role of alcohol in casualties often relies on a variety of methods which are both diverse and interrelated. The unique measurement problems posed by the diversity of alcohol measures are reviewed and issues in selection and recording bias of alcohol's involvement in injury are discussed. A number of fundamental ethical and moral issues related to measurement are identified.
authors.affiliation: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Division of Biometry and Epidemiology, Rockville, MD 20857.
authors.forename: T C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Harford
mesh_terms: D000059:Accidents / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015982:Bias; D001944:Breath Tests; D015984:Causality; D000431:Ethanol / Q000097:blood; D004989:Ethics; D006801:Humans; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol