Network Epidemiology

For epidemiologists and public health professionals, the global epidemic of HIV/AIDS has provoked a fundamental re-examination of public health practices and the research needed to support them. This book documents and explains one of the remarkable breakthroughs in behavioural research design that has emerged to confront this new challenge: the network survey. It represents a paradigm shift in behavioural epidemiology, broadening the focus from the traditional "knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP)" of individuals to mapping the relational networks that spread infection, and constrain behavioural change. Eight pioneering network studies from around the world are reviewed, with an introduction that lays out the basics of network survey design, and a glossary of network terminology.