Risk analysis needs to be an interdisciplinary endeavor rather than just a multidisciplinary approach. We need to devote our time to review the work of our peers and to share data in sufficient detail to allow our conclusions to be independently reassessed. This need to collaborate is the motivating factor for contributing to the Clearinghouse, shows confidence in our own analyses and contributes to the resources of the community. Participating in data sharing enterprises will enhance advancing the community goals of seeking the truth and checking hypotheses. The purpose of a risk assessment is to assess risk, provide insight into the process, identify crucial data deficiencies and to target further studies.
Risk assessments are iterative.
Since the data are never perfect and are rarely collected specifically for risk assessment, many types of data must be considered for inclusion into risk assessment. Good data may include complete data, relevant data and valid data. Complete data would include such things as the source of the data and the related study information, such as sample size, species studied, seasonality, sensitivity, specificity and precision of microbiological methods, and data collection method. Relevant data may depend on the risk question that is being addressed. Characteristics of relevant data include age of data, region or country of origin, purpose of study and species involved.