Practical Statistics for Experimental Biologists

The design and analysis of biological experiments, and the subsequent successful handling of the large amounts of data generated requires a good working knowledge of statistical principles if worthwhile, reliable results are to be obtained. This readable, practical book presents those principles by careful analysis of familiar experiments, using as few sets of data as possible to yield maximum information. The reader is encouraged to pigeon-hole data into one of four basic categories: measurements, proportions, counts or ranks. Starting very simply, Professor Wardlaw first explains how to summarise, analyse and investigate the difference between groups. Moving on logically, and in well-defined stages he advises on progressively more complex analysis techniques, describing all of the standard methods for reduction of data and commonly used tests of significance; when appropriate, the reader is advised to consult a professional statistician.
Written by a biologist with some 30 years experience of applying statistical procedures to experimental systems, the emphasis throughout is on practical problem solving; the central message being that this is most efficiently achieved by building statistical procedures into experiments at the beginning, rather than trying to use them as number crunching exercises at the end.