Question: what are cohorts

Alex Munro answered on 12 Jun 2011:

Cohorts are large groups of people that scientists use to get all sorts of human data; for example, one of the cohorts I’m using is the UK’s oldest, the 1946 British Birth Cohort (aka the MRC National Survey for Health and Development). This is a group of (5,362) people that have been ‘followed’ by scientists since their birth in March 1946 right up to the present day; they all had their 65th birthday this year! They kindly provide us with all sorts of data over their lifetime/at various time points; e.g. birth weight, height and weight, disease and ill-health, educational attainment, child rearing, body composition, dietary data, blood pressure, physical capability…