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6.3 gather, process and analyse information to identify the cause and effect relationship of smoking and lung cancer

gather, process and analyse information to identify the cause and effect relationship of smoking and lung cancer

Background

Cause and effect is difficult to establish. For example, it is one thing to say that everyone with a certain disease also watches television, but to make the next step, and say that television caused the disease, is not possible. There could be any number of other possible causes for the disease. This difficulty arises with epidemiological studies. Smoking and lung cancer have been linked by research time after time but it is difficult to get the manufacturers of tobacco products to accept that it is a direct cause and effect relationship, that is, smoking causes lung cancer.