Translating Law on the Books to Numbers in a Database

Despite an existing body of research on laws related to health outcomes, the science of moving from the written text of laws to numbers in a database is not universally well understood. There are numerous measurement and coding considerations when defining a structure and details of a public health law database. This presentation addresses such challenges by offering guidance on measuring law, i.e., determining relevant dimensions or components of an area of law, categorizing the legal elements of a public health policy, and using the resultant categorization schema to produce accurate summary representations of the law in terms of counts, numeric or continuous indicators, indices and scales. Conceptual topics include the use of theory to guide development of appropriate measures and challenges of legal indeterminacy. Among the practical issues are the importance of ascertaining effective dates, limitations of dichotomous variables, construction of scales, and appropriate use of secondary sources. Although the presentation focuses on issues specific to measuring law, it also offers general guidance for conducting successful multi-disciplinary studies that use legal data. Examples of specific challenges in blending law and social science are drawn from an array of policies.