Evolutionary Biology
Laboratory
August 2014 Semester
BIO 606: Biostatistics
This course is aimed at PhD and senior undergraduate (4th-5th year BS-MS) students. This course aims to introduce students to common statistical methods used in research. Emphasis will be laid on understanding the rationale behind the statistical methods. The course will have two components- (a) Lectures: 2-3 per week and (b) Practicals: 1-2 per week. During the practical sessions, students will be taught how to analyse data using R. Students will perform small in-class activities to generate data. We will also use freely available data sets.
Course Books:
1. Biostatistics: The Bare Essentials (3rd edition).
Authors: Geoff Norman and David Streiner.
Publisher: BC Decker
2. Biostatistical Analysis (5th edition)
Author: Jerrold H Zar
Publisher: Pearson
Topics:
Week 1:
1. Introduction to Statistics. The basics of data and variables.
2. Descriptve Statistics:
(a) Looking at the data using graphs.
(b) Describing the data using numbers: measures of central tendency and dispersion.
3. Probability and Probability distributions.
Week 2:
4. Probability and Probability distributions (contd)
5. Introduction to Inferential Statistics.
6. Comparing two means
BIO 211: Genetics and Evolution (Laboratory course)