Publisher's Synopsis
This edition includes a new section on meta-analysis, the critical review and integration of the findings of separate studies of the same topic. Its aim is to provide readers with the basic skills required for making sense of the results (similar or dissimilar) of a set of epidemiological studies, and for appraising published reports of meta-analyses and deciding whether to accept their conclusions. In other sections of the book, elucidatory comments have been added and references updated.