STA
210B/ENV 251
Statistics and Data Analysis for
the Biological Sciences
| Instructor
Research Associate, National Institute of Statistical Sciences Adjunct Faculty, Duke Statistics, Duke University Email jhilden@niss.org Duke telephone 684-4608, NISS 685-9324 Office 223A Old Chemistry Office hours are 2-3:30 pm on Tuesday and Thursday, or by appointment. I spend more time at NISS. |
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| Teaching Assistant
Ph.D. Student, Duke Statistics, Duke University Email courtney@stat.duke.edu Telephone 684-8840 Office 222 Old Chemistry ...Stay tuned for office hours... |
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Lectures
We will use Statistics for the Life Sciences by Myra J. Samuels as our main reference and source of problem sets. JMP Start Statistics by John Sall and Ann Lehmann is both an introduction to JMPin and a text on data analysis. Further materials may include documents available on the web and class handouts. Students will be responsible for printing web documents.
Web Resources
Here are some sites we may use in class or may be useful for class projects. Please visit them for project ideas and general awareness. I have found these sites useful in my own research. This list will grow through the semester. Students are encouraged to propose other useful sites.
The Center for Environmental Information and Statistics provides introductory
reports on most EPA data sources and reviews data quality.
http://www.epa.gov/ceisweb1/ceishome/digitallib
Right-To-Know Computer Network offers access to many EPA and other public
databases.
http://www.rtk.net
Envirofacts Warehouse publishes online nearly all public EPA databases.
It also includes easy, though limited, query forms.
http://mountain.epa.gov/enviro/index_java.html
North Carolina Vital Statistics, Institute for Research in Social Science,
UNC, provides a public version of all vital records, except induced abortion
case reports. These data may be used in epidemiology and environmental
health research.
http://www.irss.unc.edu/ncvital/preface.html
Software
This is not a course in statistical computing. However, we will be using JMPin software, the student version of JMP from SAS. The purpose of using this software is to facilitate the practice of data analysis. The distribution of JMPin includes many nice data sets. We may use several of these sets in laboratory exercises.
JMP has a user-friendly graphical user interface within either a Windows or Mac platform. It is no harder to use than, say, MS Excel. The follow up course STA242/ENV 255 Applied Regression Analysis will also use JMPin.
While JMP is a product from SAS, it is not the software most people refer to as SAS. The SAS language is quite powerful and widely used. However, it is more difficult to learn than most contemporary statistical packages. Those students who would like to take a SAS course may petition that such a course be created.
Grading
| Labs/quizzes/homework | 10% |
| Exam 1 | 20 |
| Exam 2 | 20 |
| Project | 20 |
| Final exam | 30 |
Evaluation is based on clarity of presentation, appropriate choice of procedures, and accuracy
Disclaimer: All information is subject to change. Revisit page to be
current.
Brief Calendar
| September 29 | Exam 1: Gathering and exploring data |
| October 8 | Project due: stage 1 |
| October 9-14 | Fall break |
| November 3 | Exam 2: Interpreting categorical data |
| November 25-29 | Thanksgiving recess |
| December 11 | Project due: stage 2 |
| December 18 | Final exam: Interpreting numerical data |
For detailed calendar with daily reading, see Course Calendar.