Using national data sets, ANOVA, and, you know "science" (specifically the M part of STEM).
https://jech.bmj.com/content/early/2023/08/17/jech-2023-2205...
Methods: We use data on housing and DNA methylation from the UK Household Longitudinal Study, linked with prior survey responses from the British Household Panel Survey, covering adults in Great Britain. We explore the association between epigenetic ageing and housing circumstances, both contemporary and historical, using hierarchical regression.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analysis_of_varianceNote that one of the three authors is a Professor of Biological and Social Epidemiology, University of Essex
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epidemiology
That's literally a science of teasing small factors out of noisy data in a turgid sea of messy correlations.
I suspect the authors are across your concerns and perhaps understand them as well, if not better, than you might.
https://jech.bmj.com/content/early/2023/08/17/jech-2023-2205...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analysis_of_varianceNote that one of the three authors is a Professor of Biological and Social Epidemiology, University of Essex
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epidemiology
That's literally a science of teasing small factors out of noisy data in a turgid sea of messy correlations.
I suspect the authors are across your concerns and perhaps understand them as well, if not better, than you might.