Lawless, Jerald F.2016-10-242016-10-242013http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/sim.5754http://hdl.handle.net/10012/11014This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Lawless, J.F. (2013). Armitage Lecture 2011: the design and analysis of life history studies. Statistics in Medicine, 32 (13), 2155--2172, which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/sim.5754/full. DOI: 10.1002/sim.5754 This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with http://olabout.wiley.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-828039.html Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-ArchivingLife history studies collect information on events and other outcomes during people’s lifetimes. For example, these may be related to childhood development, education, fertility, health, or employment. Such longitudinal studies have constraints on the selection of study members, the duration and frequency of follow-up, and the accuracy and completeness of information obtained. These constraints, along with factors associated with the definition and measurement of certain outcomes, affect our ability to understand, model, and analyze life history processes. My objective here is to discuss and illustrate some issues associated with the design and analysis of life history studies.enHeterogeneityIncomplete dataIntermittent observationm Multistate modelsMarkov processesArticle