Blog Archives

The small numbers problem part 3: Diagnostics for the small numbers problem

Posted on November 14, 2011 by Geoffrey Jacquez, Ph.D.

To follow along with the analyses in this blog download and install a trial version of SpaceStat here. An earlier blog defined the small numbers problem and illustrated that rates calculated with small denominators (e.g. small at-risk populations) have high variance and … Continue reading →

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The small numbers problem–Part 2

Posted on March 24, 2011 by Geoffrey Jacquez, Ph.D.

Using persistence in spatial time series as a diagnostic for extreme rates in small areas. In my last blog on the small numbers problem (http://www.biomedware.com/blog/2010/small_numbers_problem1/) we found that rates calculated with small denominators (e.g. small at-risk populations) have high variance … Continue reading →

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The small numbers problem: What you see is not necessarily what you get.

Posted on November 4, 2010 by Geoffrey Jacquez, Ph.D.

The ability to quickly create maps of health outcomes such as cancer incidence and mortality in counties, census areas and even Zip codes is now available through websites and data portals. (See for example Atlasplus, State Cancer Profiles, and Cardiovascular Disease, … Continue reading →

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