Teaching
Course structure
LECTURES. These are intentionally being given by a biologist rather than a statistician with the express aim of using simple (and hopefully interesting!) biological examples to get across key concepts relevant to practising biologists. More emphasis is put on why something is being done than on how to do it. In the practical work, emphasis will be on interpretation of computer output as much as the mechanics of generating the output.
PRACTICALS. There are a total of 4 computer practicals. The first two are an essential guide to doing statistics with Minitab. The second two concern more advanced statistical analyses - both how to make Minitab do such analyses, and how to interpret the output and draw conclusions.
TUTORIALS. We have loosely timetable 8 or 9 of these. However, it is our intention to respond to difficulties as they arise. Where numbers justify it, we will attempt to lay on extra tutorials.
The first two tutorials are revision and/or an introduction to the basics for those who feel they need them. After the first few weeks, we will assume competence in the material covered in these tutorials. It is basic and fundamental. If in doubt, go to these tutorials. Students who have not done Biometrics 2h and/or Behavioural Ecology 3m should definitely attend. Students who have difficulty later on because they have not made the effort to understand the basics will not be viewed sympathetically. Zookeeper will ask for e-mail responses to possible topics and arrange appropriate tutorials according to demand.
Tutorial 1: Basics I. Competence with the following will be assumed after the first week:
- Excel (incl. simple graphics, basic calculations etc), Word, e-mail, WWW
- Calculation and understanding of: mean, median, mode, variance, standard deviation, frequency tables and graphs, cumulative frequencies
- Recogniton of variable types (qualitative, quantitative, discrete, continuous)
- Ability to distinguish paired from unpaired data.
Tutorial 2: Basics II.
- t-tests (paired, unpaired, one sample)
- chi-square tests (goodness of fit, contingency tables)
- basic non-parametric tests (Mann-Whitney, Wilcoxon, sign test)
- correlation coefficients, simple ordinary least squares regression.
Tutorial 3: Discussion of Problem Set I.
Tutorial 4: Discussion of Problem Set II.
Tutorial 5: Criticism of published papers: Rau & Caron (1979), Williams et al. (2000).
Tutorial 6: Criticism of published papers. Suggestions welcomed.
Tutorial 7: Discussion of Problem Set III.
Tutorial 8 & 9: 2001 and 2002 QZ exams.
PROBLEM SETS.
The first is to ensure everyone is comfortable with the basics; the second two are at the level of the final exam. To get the most out of these, you are strongly recommended to attempt them BEFORE the relevant tutorial. Answers to all three problem sets will only be available at the tutorials.
Problem Set I: Issues covered during the Minitab practicals, Biometry 2h, BEEC + Tutorials 1 & 2.
Problem Set II: Covering material in lectures 1-4. Not involving Minitab output.
Problem Set III: Covering material in lectures 5 on. Drawing conclusions from Minitab output.