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Possible exposures are explored. In the workplace, for example, this
would include an industrial hygiene evaluation of historic and current
exposures. In addition to the case definition, these exposures should
suggest possible etiologic hypotheses. Of note, these can be fairly
vague to begin with. For example, in the occupational disease cluster,
an initial hypothesis can be the job title, such as F-4 airplane
mechanic.
These etiologic hypotheses should then be tested in an epidemiologic
study. The most common study designs are case control and prevalence
studies since they tend to be quicker and somewhat less expensive than
a cohort study, either retrospective or prospective.
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