ERIC Number: EJ867340
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2009
Pages: 4
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0819-4564
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Probability and Cancer Clusters
Hamilton-Keene, Rachael; Lenard, Christoper T.; Mills, Terry M.
Australian Senior Mathematics Journal, v23 n2 p26-29 2009
Recently there have been several news items about possible cancer clusters in the Australian media. The term "cancer cluster" is used when an unusually large number of people in one geographic area, often a workplace, are diagnosed with cancer in a short space of time. In this paper the authors explore this important health issue using probability theory and in particular the binomial distribution. This paper also illustrates how students can use the binomial distribution to gain a more thoughtful approach to cancer clusters and demonstrates how mathematics should be applied in practice.
Descriptors: Cancer, Statistics, Probability, Foreign Countries, Mathematics Instruction, Geographic Location, Public Health, Secondary School Mathematics, College Mathematics, Teaching Methods, Models, Theories
Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers (AAMT). GPO Box 1729, Adelaide 5001, South Australia. Tel: +61-8-8363-0288; Fax: +61-8-8362-9288; e-mail: office@aamt.edu.au; Web site: http://www.aamt.edu.au
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A