Evaluate the collective function of references cited together in a given text segment.
Classify their combined role into one of the following categories: 'method', 'background', or 'result'.

Text:…more accurate depiction of epidemiological findings supporting the core group hypothesis (Rothenberg 1983; Potterat et al. 1985; Zenilman et al. 1999; Bernstein et al. 2004), and resolves some of the prior ambiguity about what constitutes the core group for STI transmission (Thomas & Tucker 1996).
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