ABSTRACT
390This chapter reviews the role that statistical thinking and methodology should play in the conduct of health and environmental risk assessments. What do I mean when I refer to “statistics?” The Random House Unabridged Dictionary defines statistics as “the science that deals with the collection, classification, analysis, and interpretation of numerical facts or data, and that, by use of mathematical theories of probability, imposes order and regularity on aggregates of more or less disparate elements.” This has a simple translation: statistics finds ways of coping with uncertain, incomplete, and otherwise not wholly satisfactory data. Therefore, if you know the answer exactly, you don’t need statistics ….
