About this Title
The Analysis of Biological Data is a new approach to teaching introductory statistics to biology students. To reach this unique audience, Whitlock and Schluter motivate learning with interesting biological and medical examples; they emphasize intuitive understanding; and they focus on real data. The book covers basic topics in introductory statistics, including graphs, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, comparison of means, regression, and designing experiments. It also introduces the principles behind such modern topics as likelihood, linear models, meta-analysis and computer-intensive methods. Instructors and students consistently praise the book's clear and engaging writing, strong visualization techniques, and its variety of fascinating and relevant biological examples.
About the Author
Michael Whitlock is an evolutionary biologist and population geneticist. He is a Professor of Zoology at the University of British Columbia, where he has taught statistics to biology students since 1995.
Dolph Schluter is Professor and Canada Research Chair in the Zoology Department and Biodiversity Research Center at the University of British Columbia. He is known for his research on the ecology and evolution of Galapagos finches and threespine stickleback.
Table of Contents
PART 1 INTRODUCTION TO STATISTICS
1. Statistics and samples
INTERLEAF 1 Biology and the history of statistics
2. Displaying data
3. Describing data
4. Estimating with uncertainty
INTERLEAF 2 Pseudoreplication
5. Probability
6. Hypothesis testing
INTERLEAF 3 Why statistical significance is not the same as biological importance
PART 2 PROPORTIONS AND FREQUENCIES
7. Analyzing proportions
INTERLEAF 4 Correlation does not require causation
8. Fitting probability models to frequency data
INTERLEAF 5 Making a plan
9. Contingency analysis: associations between categorical variables
PART 3 COMPARING NUMERICAL VALUES
10. The normal distribution
INTERLEAF 6 Controls in medical studies
11. Inference for a normal population
12. Comparing two means
INTERLEAF 7 Which test should I use?
13. Handling violations of assumptions
14. Designing experiments
INTERLEAF 8 Data dredging
15. Comparing means of more than two groups
INTERLEAF 9 Experimental and statistical mistakes
PART 4 REGRESSION AND CORRELATION
16. Correlation between numerical variables
INTERLEAF 10 Publication bias
17. Regression
INTERLEAF 11 Using species as data points
PART 5 MODERN STATISTICAL METHODS
18. Multiple explanatory variables
19. Computer-intensive methods
20. Likelihood
21. Meta-analysis: combining information from multiple studies Answers to practice problems
Literature cited
Statistical tables
Photo credits
Index
SupplementsFor instructors we provide the answers to the problem sets, the data sets, all the figures in TIFF format, and PowerPoint slides created by the authors. You may request the files by sending email to info@roberts-publishers.com.
Praise
“This book is engaging, intuitive, and with a coverage and pace that is perfect for a first statistics course in biology.”
—Allen J. Moore, University of Exeter
“Whitlock and Schluter have produced an introduction to statistics that is both accessible in its content and compelling in its examples—it should be read by every young biologist. This book will convince even the most reluctant student of the importance of statistical thinking in modern biology.”
—Patrick Phillips, University of Oregon
“At last, a book that brings back some of the joy in teaching statistics to biologists! It's a wonderful experience to teach to a class that actually enjoys the recommended text.”
—Simon Robson, James Cook University
“This book is the closest I can find to the course I teach. As I read through the chapters I find myself rewriting my lectures in my head—partly because so many of my favorite examples are there. The book makes you feel as if you are in Mike or Dolph's office with a cup of coffee and they are explaining these concepts at the blackboard. It’s the most approachable statistics book I’ve ever seen. It includes some topics that are almost completely ignored in other texts, such as odds-ratios and alternatives to linear regression. Finally, the collection of questions is fantastic. My students are always asking for more problem sets; I never have enough. I can easily see how the questions alone will transform my course.”
—Brad Anholt, University of Victoria
“The authors’ approach to teaching statistics truly makes the appropriate connections to the kinds of problems and data biological researchers will encounter in the 21st century.”
—Grace Wyngaard, James Madison University
“This text defies the stereotype that statistics is a dry and humorless subject that is only accessible to specialists. It accomplishes that rarely achieved goal of teaching the conceptual basis of statistical analyses without allowing the student either to overlook or to drown in the underlying mathematics. Ample amounts of real scientific data provide credible examples, and remind biologists of any age how weird and wonderful the world really is.”
—Susan M. Lehman, Brock University
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