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Technical note: Regression analysis in adult age estimation
Author(s) -
Aykroyd R. G.,
Lucy D.,
Pollard A. M.,
Solheim T.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
american journal of physical anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1096-8644
pISSN - 0002-9483
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1096-8644(199710)104:2<259::aid-ajpa11>3.0.co;2-z
Subject(s) - estimation , confounding , statistics , regression , regression analysis , calibration , econometrics , age groups , demography , mathematics , computer science , engineering , sociology , systems engineering
Accurate estimation of human adult age has always been a problem for anthropologists, archaeologists and forensic scientists. The main factor contributing to the difficulties is the high variability of physiological age indicators. However, confounding this variability in many age estimation applications is a systematic tendency for age estimates, regardless of physiological indicator employed, to assign ages which are too high for young individuals, and too low for older individuals. This paper shows that at least part of this error is the inevitable consequence of the statistical procedures used to extract an estimate of age from age indicators, and that the magnitude of the error is inversely related to how well an age indicator is correlated with age. The use of classical calibration over inverse calibration is recommended for age estimation. Am J Phys Anthropol 104:259–265, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.