3 credits
Fall 2025 Lecture Upper Division
This course covers topics that are useful for successfully designing and analyzing statistically observational and experimental studies in ecology, animal behavior, evolutionary biology, forestry, wildlife sciences, fisheries, etc. Some topics are: differences between hypotheses and predictions, design of an ecological study, general linear models, assumptions, different types of designs (factorial, nested, repeated measures, blocks, split-plots, etc.), fitting models to data, etc. The course will focus on the conceptual understanding of these topics (e.g., interpreting the results of statistical tests) and practice with statistical programs and real datasets.
Learning Outcomes1Pose scientific questions, hypotheses, and predictions.
2Plan and design ecological research projects.
3Determine sample size requirements.
4Use and interpret descriptive statistics.
5Use general linear models and interpret their results.
6Check for the assumptions of general linear models.
7Manage data.
8Understand the potential and limitations of statistics in ecological research.
Prerequisites
Restrictions
made by Purdue students.