life expectancy
Let an agent handle life expectancy by definition, population, period, source and interpretation, neutrally and without predictions for individuals.
Research draft, second pass
A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.
written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify
Researched by: Claude
Purpose and description
Let an agent handle life expectancy by definition, population, period, source and interpretation, neutrally and without predictions for individuals.
A statistical measure of the average time a person is expected to live, most often life expectancy at birth, calculated from age-specific mortality rates; related measures include healthy life years and quality-adjusted life years.
What it is for: Measuring population health and comparing places and times.
It can be cite official life expectancy figures; distinguish period and cohort measures; compare across groups with care; explain healthy life expectancy.
Distinguishing features
Statistical average
Based on mortality rates
Not a prediction for an individual
Varies by sex, place and group
What it looks like
Numbers in years in official statistics.
How it is recognised
Life expectancy at birth or at a given age
Healthy life years and HALE
Period versus cohort
Related models
is a kind of - category
is computed from - input
is published by - sources
is related to - concept
In practice
Families and kinds
life expectancy at birth
life expectancy at older ages
healthy life expectancy
cohort life expectancy
quality-adjusted life years (related)
Standards and regulation
WHO Global Health Observatory methods
National life table methods
Failure modes and hazards
Treating averages as individual predictions
Comparing different measures
Insensitive framing of group differences
Also called
Where this came from
wikidata · CC0 1.0
Drafted structure
Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions.
Definition Which measure.
Measures differ.
Measure
At birth or age.
Measure
Measure.
- Which life expectancy measure is meant? definition
- Period or cohort? definition
Population
Group.
Population
Population.
- For which population, place and year? provenance
- By sex or other groups? definition
Data Values.
Figures need sources.
Value
Years.
Value
Value.
- What is the figure, from which official source? measurement
- How uncertain is it? measurement
Trends
Change.
Trends
Trends.
- How has it changed over time? measurement
- What drove the change, according to research? provenance
Interpretation Meaning.
Averages mislead if misread.
Individual
Not a prediction.
Individual
Individual interpretation.
- Is the user trying to predict one person lifespan from an average? boundary
- How should that be explained? action
Healthy years
HALE.
Healthy
Healthy life expectancy.
- How many of those years are lived in good health? measurement
- How is that measured? definition
Equity Differences.
Differences need careful framing.
Gaps
Between groups.
Gaps
Gaps.
- What gaps exist between groups, according to official data? provenance
- What explains them? provenance
Framing
Respect.
Framing
Respectful framing.
- Is the framing respectful and non-stigmatising? boundary
- Is context given? boundary
What the second pass must settle
- Should life expectancy measures be separate entries?
- How should sources be linked and dated?
- How should group differences be presented?