Data Management & Visualization: Selecting a Research Question

STEP 1. Choose a data set

After studying the the list of indicators in Gapminder World (https://www.gapminder.org/data/), I have decided to make cross-country comparisons in regards to the mortality of children under the age of 5.

As the indicators are in different data files I will have to merge the relevant data into one dataset and modify some of the original variable names.  

STEP 2. Identify a specific topic of interest

Research question: What is the correlation between child mortality and female education?  

STEP 3. Prepare a codebook

My codebook contains the following Gapminder variables:

Indicator name: Under Five Mortality
Description of Indicator (by Unicef): The probability that a child born in a specific year will die before reaching the age of five if subject to current age-specific mortality rates. Expressed as a rate per 1,000 live births (2010).
Source organization(s): CME info estimates, Human Mortality Database, Estimated from Gapminder's IMR series, Data extrapolated back to 1800 based on Gapminder Life Expectancy combined with model life tables, Other guesstimates

Indicator name: Mean years in school (women of reproductive age, 15 to 44)
Description of Indicator: The average number of years of school attended by all people in the age and gender group specified, including primary, secondary and tertiary education (2009).
Source organization(s): Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation  

STEP 4. Identify a second topic

I also want to look at other variables that may affect child mortality rates of different countries. Does it depend on other factors such as total expenditure on health? Is GDP reflecting the anticipated level of child mortality?  

STEP 5. Additions to my personal codebook

Indicator name: incomeperperson
Description of Indicator: 2010 Gross Domestic Product per capita in constant 2000 US\$. The inflation but not the differences in the cost of living between countries has been taken into account.
Source organization(s): World Bank Work Development Indicators

Indicator name: Per capita total expenditure on health at average exchange rate (US\$)
Description of Indicator: Per capita total expenditure on health expressed at average exchange rate for that year in US\$. Current prices (2010).
Source organization(s): World Health Organization  

STEP 6. Literature Review

Search strings: child mortality, under-5, child survival, maternal education, health expenditures

„With declining poverty and increasing knowledge and service in the health sector, child mortality around the world is declining very rapidly… Over the last decade this improvement has been happening faster than ever before. Rising prosperity, rising education and the spread of health care around the globe are the major drivers of this progress.”
„As one would expect, income level of the country is extremely correlated with child mortality rate. The poorest countries have the highest levels of child mortality, and the countries with the highest income have the lowest rates.” [1]

Gakidou et al. find that over half the decline seen in child mortality globally between 1970-2010 can be explained by improvements in the education of women. They also find that economic growth (GDP) can only explain a very small amount of the reduction in child mortality. [2]

In their publication in the American Economic Journal the authors report that improved access to medical services could improve the large disparities in infant mortality rates both across and within countries. [3]

According to Filmer and Pritchett health spending is not a powerful determinant of mortality, 95% of cross-national variation in mortality can be explained by a country’s income per capita, inequality of income distribution, extent of female education, level of ethnic fragmentation, and predominant religion. [4]

References:

​1. Max Roser (2016) – ‘Child Mortality’. Published online at OurWorldInData.org. Retrieved from: https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality/ [Online Resource]

​2. Emmanuela Gakidou, Krycia Cowling, Rafael Lozano, Christopher JL Murray (2010) – Increased educational attainment and its effect on child mortality in 175 countries between 1970 and 2009: a systematic analysis, The Lancet, Volume 376, Issue 9745, 18–24 September 2010, Pages 959-974, ISSN 0140-6736, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(10)61257-3.

​3. Gruber, Jonathan, Nathaniel Hendren, and Robert M. Townsend (2014) – “The Great Equalizer: Health Care Access and Infant Mortality in Thailand.” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 6(1): 91-107.

​4. Filmer, D., Pritchett, L., 1999. The impact of public spending on health: does money matter? Social Science & Medicine 49, 1309–1323
Social Science & Medicine, Volume 50, Issue 10, 16 May 2000, Pages 1517-1518

STEP 7. Develop a hypothesis

My hypothesis: greater education for women is an important factor in reducing the rate of death among children younger than five. Women with more education tend to have smaller families, have better employment opportunities and more knowledge about parenatal care, hygiene, nutrition.

I am curious to find out whether public spending on health really has a significant effect, and how the income level of countries correlates with child mortality.