Things that kept coming to mind while thinking through Susser's South African memoir

Abstract

(1) The point of what follows is twofold. Firstly, a few old ideas. Along with professional and scientific values, ideological and moral values explain a great deal of our work as epidemiologists. Such values ought to be made explicit more often. It is hard or impossible to analyse the contributions of epidemiology without taking into account professional, scientific, ideological, and moral values of individual epidemiologists—as well as values and interests of the institutions, social organisations, governments and companies that nurtured the work. We often overlook that methods have their “own”—socially embedded—history, just as diseases, epidemiological evidence, or the “invisible colleges” and schools of epidemiology. The second reason comes later (point 18 below). A general assessment of the impact of Susser’s work is not a purpose of this commentary.