Ecological study

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An ecological study is an epidemiological study in which the unit of analysis is a population rather than an individual. For instance, an ecological study may look at the association between smoking and lung cancer deaths in different countries. An ecological study is normally regarded as inferior to non-ecological designs such as cohort and case-control studies because it is susceptible to the ecological fallacy.

[edit] References

• Coggon D et al. Epidemiology for the Uninitiated. Fourth Edition. 6. Ecological studies. BMJ Publishing Group 1997.