A method for determining r error detection bits that can be associated with a word of m bits to be coded, including the step of calculating the product of a vector with m components representative of the word of m bits to be coded and of a parity control matrix of dimension r×m. The parity control matrix is such that each column of matrix includes an odd number of “1s” greater than or equal to three. The present invention also relates to a method for determining a syndrome.