Heterogeneity in Disease Associations

Abstract
Associations between polymorphisms and disease are usually detected by comparing phenotype frequencies in affected individuals and controls, usually by the method of Woolf, which also allows assessment of heterogeneity between studies. The risk of reporting a chance spurious association could be reduced if family studies, such as sib comparisons, were carried out at the same time as the original survey, rather than after many surveys have been conducted.