Modeling Contact Structures in Biology

Abstract

The transmission of diseases, genetic characteristics, or cultural traits is influenced by many factors including the contact/social structure of the interacting subpopulation, that is, the social environment. Classical demography (see MacKendrick, 1926; Lotka, 1922; and Leslie, 1945) ignores social dynamics and usually concentrates on the birth and death processes of female populations under the assumption that they have reached a stable age distribution. They usually ignore the specific mating/contact structure of the population. The incorporation of mating structures or marriage functions, as they are commonly referred to in human demography, was pioneered by Kendall (1949) and Keyfitz (1949). However, despite the fact that their work was extended by Parlett (1972), Predrickson (1971), McFarland (1972), and Pollard (1973) two decades ago, their impact on demography, epidemiology, and population biology has been minimal.