ENTOM 3030

Applied Statistics: Biological Experiments in Practice

Course Description

Course information provided by the 2025-2026 Catalog.

In this course, you will get hands-on experience in how to design, analyze, and interpret biological experiments. This course will be particularly useful if you plan to conduct experiments in a greenhouse or field setting. You will learn to develop a scientific question, formulate biological and statistical hypotheses, derive testable predictions, design and conduct experiments, collect your own data, test the proposed hypotheses using appropriate statistical methods, interpret the statistical results within a broader conceptual framework, and finally present statistical methods and results in written and oral form. You will learn common statistical methods (chi-square tests, t-test, ANOVA, Regression) and how to run them in R. This course will be based on the scientific method, and the role statistical analysis play within this method.

Prerequisites introductory class in statistics.

Distribution Requirements (DLS-AG, OPHLS-AG)

Last 4 Terms Offered 2025SP, 2024SP, 2023SP, 2022SP

Learning Outcomes

• Construct a scientific question, formulate biological and statistical hypothesis, derive testable predictions, use a rigorous experimental design, and test the proposed hypotheses.
• Apply the theory behind statistical analysis such as chi-square test, t-test, ANOVA, Regression, and ANCOVA, and master running these analyses in R.
• Analyze and interpret the outcome from the data you collected from your own experiments in class and showing a real understanding of the statistical methods.
• Interpret statistical results and make inferences on their biological hypotheses and original question.
• Effectively communicate in written and oral form statistical results in a biological context.
• Write papers that reflect the full understanding of the scientific method from initial question to conclusion with emphasis on experimental design, statistical methods, and results.

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