statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a s ...

, the Cuzick–Edwards test is a

significance test A statistical hypothesis test is a method of statistical inference used to decide whether the data provide sufficient evidence to reject a particular hypothesis. A statistical hypothesis test typically involves a calculation of a test statistic. T ...

whose aim is to detect the possible clustering of sub-populations within a clustered or non-uniformly-spread overall population. Possible applications of the test include examining the spatial clustering of childhood

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

and

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). The name typically refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlarged lymph node ...

within the general population, given that the general population is spatially clustered. The test is based on: :*using control locations within the general population as the basis of a second or "control" sub-population in addition to the original "case" sub-population; :*using "nearest-neighbour" analyses to form statistics based on either: :**the number of other "cases" among the neighbours of each case; :**the number "cases" which are nearer to each given case than the ''k''-th nearest "control" for that case. An example application of this test was to spatial clustering of leukaemias and lymphomas among young people in New Zealand.

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