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Coordinator: Craig Johnson with Leon Barmuta
Semester 1; Wednesday 9-10, 11-12 & 1-5
So, when we told you in First Year that ‘statistics is important’, you didn’t believe us, right? Well, you know better by now, and you should think seriously about doing this unit if you have any intention of pursuing a biological career (or any career that requires thinking in the context of design and data collection).
Every practising biologist needs a working knowledge of basic statistical methods, and that’s one aim of this unit. Our goal is not to turn you into professional statisticians. Rather we aim to increase your quantitative literacy so that you can understand what is written in scientific papers, and be able to consult usefully with professional statisticians when you need to do so later in your career. However, this unit is about more than a bunch of statistical methods: we aim to improve the way you think about doing science by emphasising the logic that underpins each set of methods we cover. Good biological research always starts with good, properly planned designs – irrespective of whether that research involves experiments or descriptive surveys. We introduce you to the tools needed to do this planning, as well as intensive, hands-on practical experience with commonly used, industrial-strength statistical software.
The 2002 Course and Unit Handbook entry tells you which topics we cover, and, if you’re phobic of equations, don’t worry: we are too, so we don't use any! Our emphasis is on understanding and using commonly used quantitative methods in biology rather than their mathematical development. The skills you develop in this unit will be valuable to you later on in your career as a professional biologist – many of our former students have said so!
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