The Berkson error model is a description of random error

Random error

Random errors are errors in measurement that lead to measurable values being inconsistent when repeated measures of a constant attribute or quantity are taken...

 (or misclassification) in measurement. Unlike classical error, Berkson error causes little or no bias in the measurement. It was proposed by Joseph Berkson

Joseph Berkson

Joseph Berkson was trained as a physicist , physician , and statistician . In 1950, as Head of the Division of Biometry and Medical Statistics of the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, Berkson wrote a key paper entitled Are there two regressions?...

 in a paper entitled Are there two regressions?
, published in 1950.

An example of Berkson error arises in exposure assessment

Exposure assessment

Exposure assessment is a branch of environmental science that focuses on the processes that take place at the interface between the environment containing the contaminant of interest and the organism being considered. These are the final steps in the path to release an environmental contaminant,...

 in epidemiological studies. Berkson error may predominate over classical error in cases where exposure data are highly aggregated. While this kind of error reduces the power

Statistical power

The power of a statistical test is the probability that the test will reject the null hypothesis when the null hypothesis is actually false . The power is in general a function of the possible distributions, often determined by a parameter, under the alternative hypothesis...

 of a study, risk estimates themselves are not themselves attenuated (as would be the case where random error

Random error

Random errors are errors in measurement that lead to measurable values being inconsistent when repeated measures of a constant attribute or quantity are taken...

predominates).