How does an epidemiological study work?
An epidemiological study such as this involves linking details about a person’s involvement in an event or events (such as attendance at the nuclear test programme) with outcome data such as cause of death or cancer incidence. Statistical analyses then consider what conclusions may be drawn concerning risks of mortality and cancer incidence from comparisons between the study cohort and other comparable groups. For this study, comparisons were made against the national population and against a control group.
