Statistical And Data Handling Skills in Biology (4^th Ed.)

Is there a link between people?s heart rate and blood pressure?

Does the lead in petrol fumes affect the growth of roadside plants?

The ability to expertly analyse statistical data is a crucial skill in the biological sciences ? it is fundamental to fully understanding what your experiments are actually telling you and so being able to answer your research questions. 

Statistical and Data Handling Skills in Biology gives you everything you need to understand and use statistical tests within your studies and future independent research.

Written in a straight-forward and easy to understand style it presents all of the tests you will need throughout your studies, and shows you how to select the right tests to get the most out of your experiments.  All of this is done in the context of biological examples so you can see just how relevant a skill this is, and how becoming fully proficient will make you a more rounded scientist.

This 4^th edition has been thoroughly updated throughout and now includes detailed coverage of the free statistical package R studio and a new chapter on how to write about and present statistics in papers, theses and reports.  The first chapter has also been revised to introduce students to the need for and ideas behind statistical analysis.

Features

·    Clear explanation with step by step detail of how to carry out a wide range of statistical analyses will help you to quickly gain understanding and confidence in this essential area.

·    Useful decision charts will help you to select the right statistical test and gain confidence in answering your research questions.

·    Real world examples in each chapter will help you to develop an applied understanding of the full range of statistical techniques

·    Self-assessment problems scenarios at the end of each chapter enable you to practice applying your understanding of a technique, thereby improving your confidence in using numbers.  Guided answers allow you to check your understanding.

Statistical and Data Handling Skills in Biology4^th edition is idealfor any biomedic or environmental scientist getting to grips with statistical analysis for use in class on as part of independent study.

• 1 An introduction to statistics
• 2 Dealing with variability
• 3 Testing for normality and transforming data
• 3.7 Self-assessment problems 4 Testing for differences from an expected value or between two groups
• 5 Testing for differences between more than two groups: ANOVA and its non-parametric equivalents
• 6 Investigating relationships
• 7 Dealing with categorical data
• 8 Designing experiments
• 9 More complex statistical analysis
• 10 Presenting and writing about statistics
• Glossary
• Further reading
• Solutions
• Statistical tables
• Table S1: Critical values for the t statistic
• Table S2: Critical values for the correlation coefficient r
• Table S3: Critical values for the x2 statistic
• Table S4: Critical values for the Wilcoxon T distribution
• Table S5: Critical values for the Mann–Whitney U distribution
• Table S6: Critical values for the Friedman x2 distribution
• Table S7: Critical values for the Spearman rank correlation coefficient r

• Clear, concise coverage of essential topics to help you to quickly get to grips with statistical concepts and tests.
• Useful decision charts will help you to select the right statistical test and gain confidence in answering your research questions.
• Worked examples of real research questions with step by step guidance on how to answer them using a range of statistical techniques will help you to develop an applied and practical understanding.
• Self-assessment problems scenarios at the end of each chapter enable you to practice applying your understanding of a technique, thereby improving your confidence in using numbers.  Guided answers allow you to check your understanding.
• Dedicated chapter covering how to write about and present statistics in papers, theses and reports
• Step-by-step instructions on how to carry out statistical tests on both a calculator and computer packages.
• Detailed coverage of how to use R studio and SPSS to carry out analyses to equip you with the flexibility and skills to carry out your own independent research and data analysis.