Uncertainty estimates in atomic meanlife measurements are usually obta
ined by statistical inference based on the hypothesis that the exponen
tial decay law is exact and the distribution of random errors about it
is Gaussian. At some level of precision these parameter evaluation me
thods must be accompanied by additional hypothesis testing. Possible l
imitations on these accuracies are examined in the light of recent mea
surements and calculations, and are quantitatively studied through the
simulation and fitting of several alternative models. (C) 1997 Publis
hed by Elsevier Science B.V.