Figure 1 (A) Unsmoothed map of standardised mortality ratios (SMRs) of suicide in men aged 15–44‐ years across wards in England and Wales, 1988–94. Crude SMRs are shown for the incidence of suicide in men aged 15–44‐ years across wards (n = 9265) in England and Wales. As each SMR is estimated independently, the low numbers of events per ward means that there is substantial sampling variation, which makes the map difficult to interpret. Note that in 34% of all wards (shown in light grey) no deaths were recorded. (B) Globally and locally smoothed map of suicide in men aged 15–44 years across wards in England and Wales, 1988–94. The rate ratios shown were smoothed using a Bayesian hierarchical model incorporating both unstructured and spatially structured random effects. The smoothed rate in each ward is a weighted average of the observed (crude) rate, the global mean rate for all wards in England and Wales, and the local mean rate in neighbouring areas (taken here to be those areas sharing a border). Weights are based on estimated levels of global and local variability.