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Even counting the dead takes judgment

Deciding whether someone died with COVID-19 or from it is a judgment made by a certifier, and certifiers differ. Excess mortality was proposed as the fix and brings problems of its own. If counting the dead takes judgment, then everything softer certainly does. The construct is the idea you care about. The indicator is the observable thing standing in for it. The instrument is the tool that collects it, and the measure is the number you end up with. Most measurement arguments are really arguments about one of those joins.

Also covered: construct, indicator, instrument, measure · excess mortality · measurement error