Helene Colineaux , Imperial College London, UK

Biological differences between men and women are frequently observed in health research. However, these differences cannot be conclusively attributed to biological mechanisms alone. We hypothesize that social mechanisms related to gender—through the process of embodiment—also contribute to these observed differences. This raises a central question for quantitative research: how can we distinguish between biological and social mechanisms?
This presentation will begin by addressing the transition from theory to methodology, with a brief revisit of the concept(s) of gender. I will then outline three methodological strategies to operationalize "gender" in quantitative analyses: (1) constructing an individual "gender variable", (2) "capturing" gender mechanisms as a sex effect, and (3) "capturing" gender mechanisms as an interaction effect between sex category and social environment. I will illustrate the application of these strategies using empirical results, showing how they capture effectively gender mechanisms. Finally, I will introduce more recent approaches that allow for the joint analysis of sex/gender with other intersecting social categories such as social class and ethnicity.
This will provide an opportunity to reflect on the implications of this results—not only for social epidemiology but also for the broader landscape of quantitative health research.