GOLD+ARTICLE+annotation

1. Who is writing/speaking and what is their expertise? Where does the author/speaker work and what is their organizational position? What prepared the author/speaker to occupy this position?

The two authors are Diane R. Gold and Rosalind Wright. Both come from well educated backgrounds; Diane and Rosalind both work for Harvard Medical School.

2. What topics and questions does the article/interview address? Does the author/speaker refer to related studies?

They address the issues of asthma prevalence in children as it relates to their childhood habits: (day care, early-life respiratory infection exposure, endotoxin and other farm related exposures, and many others). The study also examines the link or likeliness for children to have asthma if they are obese. They reference other studies to give precedence or show the need for their study.

3. What methods and tools are used for the analysis?

After reading through it once and then reviewing it again, I am unsure of the methods and tools used for analysis. It seems as if they are summarizing how different situations may affect children and their responsiveness to asthma triggers, but I did not see the how they actually arrived at the information.

4. What data is produced and used?

Data produced was informative, showing the relationship between asthma, children, and many environmental and other factors that contribute to asthma and other respiratory problems.

5. What are the primary findings?

There findings were that both community level and individual level factors contribute to disparities in asthma morbidity and prevalence of asthma in general. They also suggest that individual interventions can help alleviate problems.

6. What quotes usefully articulate the author/speaker’s key points and contributions?

"Urbanized, more 'Westernized' countries tend to have higher asthma rates than do the less developed countries."

I thought this quote was interesting because asthma rates may have more to do with environmental bads than socioeconomic or genetic. We can watch closely as developing countries become more "westernized" to see if the prevalence of asthma increases.

7. What are the implications of the findings?

That yes, living in a city increases your risk for asthma. Also, the lower income you are the more likely you are unable to receive "intervention" to alleviate asthma and asthma symptoms.

8. What economic, political, cultural, or scientific trends or factors seem to have shaped the author/speaker’s orientation?

The seemingly "helplessness" among the poor.

9. What about the article/interview illustrates the expertise and bias the author/speaker brings to their work?

I think their critique on the issue in general shows their expertise on the subject of asthma.

10. How can the article/interview contribute to our research group’s shared questions?

It can definitely contribute to the groups shared questions by provoking thoughts and questions to further enhance our study on asthma. The analysis of the transition from undeveloped to a developed nation and the prevalence of asthma would be a good piece of evidence for a global section of the asthma files.