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Cited by 378Mental Health and PsychiatryPsychology and Mental HealthPsychometric Methodologies and Testing

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 40 of the 41 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Measurement for a Human Science

Mirowsky, John, Ross, Catherine E.·2002·Journal of Health and Social Behavior
DOI 10.2307/3090194
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Abstract

This paper argues a number of points about measurement in the sociology of mental health: (1) measurement is critical, (2) measures should represent and assess elements of human experience, taking measure of life as people feel it, sense it, and understand it, and (3) social scientists should create a human science, producing information for the people it studies so that they can better understand and control their own lives. We argue that a human science is best achieved with the use of indexes, not diagnoses, to measure mental health. We present a brief history of diagnostic instruments and detail how a diagnosis is made. We show how use of diagnoses to measure mental health discounts much human suffering. They dichotomize the true range of feelings and emotions into crude either/or distinctions that do not reflect the reality of people's lives, and they often exclude suffering such as that due to loss or illness that does not meet medical model preconceptions about mental disorder. Using diagnoses to measure mental health presents a reified image of hidden disease knowable and manageable only by trained professionals--beyond the capacity of the suffering individuals to understand and control.

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Metadata

Authors
Mirowsky, J., & Ross, C. E.
Affiliations
The Ohio State University (US)
ORCID
Ross, Catherine E.
Venue
Journal of Health and Social Behavior
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2002-06
Volume
43
Issue
2
Pages
152
ISSN
0022-1465 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.2307/3090194
OpenAlex
W2331656655
Cited by
378
References
41
Citations by year
2026: 22 · 2025: 26 · 2024: 28 · 2023: 18 · 2022: 36 · 2021: 27 · 2020: 22 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 45 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 20 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 16
FWCI
22.07
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Journal of Health and Social Behavior (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Mental Health and Psychiatry
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychology and Mental Health
  • Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
Keywords
mental health measurement, human sciences, mental health index, psychiatric diagnosis, diagnostic tools, human suffering, emotions
MeSH terms
Attitude to Health, Mental Disorders, Diagnosis, Differential, Humans, Humanism, Mental Health, Sociology

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