Statistics and Study Design in Ecology and Conservation. 3 credits

Catalog description

An understanding of statistics and study design is essential to success in the fields of ecology and conservation. However, many of the analyses of greatest utility for ecological data are frequently unable to be addressed in introductory courses, while advanced courses often delve deeply into a limited set of techniques. This course bridges this gap: building on knowledge obtained in introductory courses, additional techniques appropriate to many forms of ecological data and more advanced approaches will be introduced. This course will address the fundamentals of study design, linking choices made when establishing a research project to the types of analyses appropriate to the chosen design. Emphasis will be placed on understanding the output of analyses, and separating statistical significance from biological or ecological significance. Additionally, skills in data manipulation, analyses, and graphics using the R statistical computing environment will be developed. Offered by Provost's Office . Limited to three attempts.