I apologise profusely for having to ask this, but I'm in dire need of some help with a project I'm doing.

My graded unit is due in 2 weeks and I'm 90% done. The thing is, I'm not really sure I actually know what I'm talking about in the analysis of the data.

I am having to explain relative risk and confidence intervals in this report in a way 1st year uni students would understand (my target audience), but I'm not sure I understand them entirely myself.

I get relative risk, but confidence interval is pickling my mind and even when I google it I seem to glaze over. As far as I can tell, it is some sort of standard deviation that relates to how reliable a number, i.e. A relative risk value, is to a given percentage.

Is that right? Thanks in advance, lads. The report is about diseases during pregnancy, particularly causes of pre-natal uterine bleeding, and whether smoking increases the risk of these conditions.