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Research Advances in Alcohol and Drug Problems pp 265–289Cite as

The Contribution of Prospective Studies to the Understanding of Etiologic Factors in Alcoholism

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Part of the book series: Research Advances in Alcohol and Drug Problems ((AADP,volume 8))

Abstract

The dimension of time is crucial to the comprehension of unfolding natural phenomena. Thanks to Newton and Einstein this fact will not surprise workers in the natural sciences, but the effects of time continue to bewilder social scientists. Through their interest in static and statistical relationships between individuals and between groups, social scientists sometimes lose track of dynamisms within the single individual. Such dynamisms can only be elucidated by combining prospective study with focus upon case histories. Such study can be best accomplished by personal interviews at multiple points in time. As water refracts the passage of light and so produces visual illusions, so do lives passing through time bend memory and understanding and thus produce cognitive illusions. In examining how prospective studies dispel such illusions, the intent of this review will be to be representative rather than exhaustive.

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  1. Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA

    George E. Vaillant

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  1. Addiction Research Foundation, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Reginald G. Smart , Howard D. Cappell , Frederick B. Glaser , Yedy Israel , Harold Kalant , Robert E. Popham , Wolfgang Schmidt  & Edward M. Sellers , , , , , ,  & 

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Vaillant, G.E. (1984). The Contribution of Prospective Studies to the Understanding of Etiologic Factors in Alcoholism. In: Smart, R.G., et al. Research Advances in Alcohol and Drug Problems. Research Advances in Alcohol and Drug Problems, vol 8. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2719-6_9

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