Finalize hypothesis/theory

[abigailmondin]

Initial draft

“The specific mechanism through which education might affect old age cognitive abilities is not clear” (Banks and Mazzonna 2012, 421). However, to investigate that prolonged education can reduce the chance of developing dementia or cognitive problems in older ages, we will look at the idea that education is a pathway to better cognitive health. Education influences cognition through many different channels, such as physical, social, and intellectual activities and participation in the work force. Some researchers theorize that "intellectually stimulating activities can be beneficial for cognitive maintenance throughout the life cycle” (Schneeweis, Skirbekk, and Winter-Ember 2014, 620).

flowchart LR
    A["Education"] --+--> B["Skills and 
knowledge"] --+--> C["Cognitive health"] --+--> D["Chance of 
developing dementia"]

Throughout our research we looked at variables, such as “get lost in familiar places” and “forgetful during daily activities,” to measure the cognitive performance of the 2016 RAND Health and Retirement Study (HRS) respondents.

[abigailmondin]

Feedback

Professor Buzard's feedback

[abigailmondin]

Updated draft (based on feedback)

@kbuzard I revised what you initially gave me feedback on, if you have the time I'd appreciate your thoughts on my revisions.

As Banks and Mazzonna (2012) point out, it is difficult to clearly identify the specific mechanism through which education affects cognitive abilities in older ages. However, to investigate that prolonged education can reduce the chance of developing dementia or cognitive problems in older ages, we will look at the idea that education is a pathway to better cognitive health. Following the theory of Schneeweis, Skirbekk, and Winter-Ember (2014), we looked at prolonged education as an intellectually stimulating activity that is beneficial for cognitive maintenance, as well as giving individuals the skills and knowledge for other intellectually stimulating activities which supports the upkeep of one’s mind. Whether or not we realize it, the more we utilize the skills and knowledge gained through education we’re improving our cognitive health, which ultimately decreases one’s chances of developing dementia or other cognitive problems later in life (see figure #). In a sense, we can think of the phrase “use it or lose it” to emphasize the importance of maintaining one’s mind to prevent cognitive problems in the future. Figure #(TBD):

flowchart LR
    A["Education"] --+--> B["Skills and 
knowledge"] --+--> C["Cognitive health"] --"-"--> D["Chance of 
developing dementia"]

[kbuzard]

@abigailmondin This is shaping up into something very nice!

I suggest making the key explanation of the theory (the sentence that starts with 'whether' and has the references to the figure in it) more concrete and closely tied to the causal diagram. That is, I would just explain the causal diagram step by step in plain vanilla language.

I'd also emphasize in there that more education leads to more skills and knowledge; you can't really say much about whether people use a given amount of skill more or not; just that they likely develop more skill the longer they're in school. So while hte "use it or lose it" piece is fun, I'm not sure it gets at the core of your theory and hypothesis.

I'd wrap up, instead, with a sentence that describes what you expect to find in the data (in general terms) if your hypothesis is correct (essentially, the link between years of education and dementia).

[abigailmondin]

Updated draft (based on second set of feedback)

@kbuzard I further revised this section of the report, if you have any additional feedback I'd love to hear it!

As Banks and Mazzonna (2012) point out, it is difficult to clearly identify the specific mechanism through which education affects cognitive abilities in older ages. However, to investigate that prolonged education can reduce the chance of developing dementia or cognitive problems in older ages, we will look at the idea that education is a pathway to better cognitive health. Following the theory of Schneeweis, Skirbekk, and Winter-Ember (2014), we looked at prolonged education as an intellectually stimulating activity that is beneficial for cognitive maintenance, as well as giving individuals the skills and knowledge for other intellectually stimulating activities which supports the upkeep of one’s mind. An increase in the amount of education a person receives directly impacts the skills and knowledge they have, which then increases or improves their cognitive health, and improved cognitive health decreases the chance that an individual will develop dementia or other cognitive problems later in life (see figure #). If our hypothesis is correct, we would expect to see a relatively negative relationship between the percentage of people who have developed dementia and the number of years of education that they received. This means that if a person received zero, one, two, or three years of education we would expect to see a higher percentage of people who’ve developed dementia than if a person has received fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, or seventeen years of education. Figure #(TBD):

flowchart LR
    A["Education"] --+--> B["Skills and 
knowledge"] --+--> C["Cognitive health"] --"-"--> D["Chance of 
developing dementia"]

[kbuzard]

increases or improves their cognitive health

@abigailmondin I recommend using one of the two verbs, but not both.

improved cognitive health decreases the chance that an individual will develop dementia or other cognitive problems later in life

Do you have a citation for this? A paper that has shown that this is true for some measure of cognitive health that is separate from dementia? Or is dementia just one sign of poor cognitive health?

I'm also wondering if you need a new box in the very middle for something like "intellectually stimulating activity"?

[abigailmondin]

I'm also wondering if you need a new box in the very middle for something like "intellectually stimulating activity"?

@kbuzard Would this be an appropriate adjustment to the supporting diagram? I added a box for "intellectually stimulating activity. I also separated the last boxes into two branches that both stem from the rest of the diagram, seeing as it may be hard to prove that have a higher cognitive health directly decreases the chance of developing dementia.

flowchart LR
    A["Education"] --+--> B["Skills and 
knowledge"] --+--> C["Intellectually 
stimulating 
activity"] --+--> D["Cognitive health"] 

C["Intellectually 
stimulating 
activity"] --"-"--> E["Chance of 
developing dementia"] 

[kbuzard]

@abigailmondin This seems plausible to me; I don't know the literature well enough -- particularly what is meant by cognitive health, how it is measured, and the relationship to dementia -- to be able to say one way or the other. As long as you can support your choice using the literature, it will be fine.

[abigailmondin]

Final Draft

As Banks and Mazzonna (2012) point out, it is difficult to clearly identify the specific mechanism through which education affects cognitive abilities in older ages. However, to investigate that prolonged education can reduce the chance of developing dementia or cognitive problems in older ages, we will look at the idea that education is a pathway to better cognitive health. Following the theory of Schneeweis, Skirbekk, and Winter-Ember (2014), we looked at prolonged education as an intellectually stimulating activity that is beneficial for cognitive maintenance, as well as giving individuals the skills and knowledge for other intellectually stimulating activities which supports the upkeep of one’s mind. An increase in the amount of education a person receives directly impacts the skills and knowledge they have, which then improves their cognitive health and decreases the chance that an individual will develop dementia or other cognitive problems later in life (see figure #). If our hypothesis is correct, we would expect to see a relatively negative relationship between the percentage of people who have developed dementia and the number of years of education that they received. This means that if a person received zero, one, two, or three years of education we would expect to see a higher percentage of people who’ve developed dementia than if a person has received fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, or seventeen years of education.

flowchart LR
    A["Education"] --+--> B["Skills and 
knowledge"] --+--> C["Intellectually 
stimulating 
activity"] --+--> D["Cognitive health"] 

C["Intellectually 
stimulating 
activity"] --"-"--> E["Chance of 
developing dementia"]