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In this paper, current environmental health research and the many difficulties associated with it
will be addressed. Several theorists (e.g., Tesh 2000 and Cranor 1994) are proposing that researchers
use alternative, less-conservative, statistical significance levels when dealing with public health risk. At
their suggestion, an exploration of alternative significance levels will be presented using health data
collected in a small Phoenix community (i.e., Homedale) with health concerns. To conclude, several
suggestions for alternative approaches will be proposed.
II. Current environmental health research
Communities with environmental health concerns generally follow one of two paths. Some
communities conduct an internal neighborhood study, possibly with the help of university researchers as
was done in the Homedale community. This research isn’t epidemiology in the traditional sense
although community members and university researchers may use similar methods. Terms like
“popular epidemiology,” “barefoot epidemiology” or “neighborhood health risk assessment” are used to
describe this approach (Brown and Mikkelsen 1990 and Couto 1986). Others use an agency external to
the neighborhood, such as the State Department of Health, to conduct an epidemiological study of the
residents.
Charged with the study of health and disease in populations, environmental epidemiologists
create knowledge that is the basis for public policies (Wing 1998). Despite their information’s value to
policy makers, epidemiologists try not to side with communities-at-risk, or industrial facilities; this is
seen as a threat to their value-free scientific credibility (Wing 1998). Rothman and Poole (1985:341)
state: “science is, after all, an attempt to achieve a deeper level of understanding not an attempt to
establish public policies. Therefore the job of scientists should be to formulate and evaluate scientific
hypotheses, rather than to muster support for or marshal evidence against specific policies.” On the
other hand, “popular epidemiologists” unabashedly try to influence public politics and policy. For both
groups, environmental health risks are challenging to study because it is difficult to evaluate hypotheses
Convention