Strategies of research on economic instability and health

Abstract

SYNOPSIS Recent research on unemployment and health has depended heavily on macro-social and ecological data analyses. In order to redress this imbalance, the report summarizes the methods and results of a prospective study of a permanent factory shutdown, thereby illustrating and dissecting some of the strengths and weaknesses of the micro-epidemiological level of analysis. This leads to a broader analysis of research strategy questions which consider macro and micro approaches and variations on the two.