Biometry
BIOMET 2000WT
Semester 2

Faculty of Sciences

Subject Co-ordinator: Trevor Hancock

Co-ordinating Department: BiometricsSA

Timetable: Please visit The University of Adelaide Online Timetable

General Outline

The design and analysis of experiments and surveys is fundamental to developments in agricultural, biological, environmental, aquatic, food and wine sciences. Proper design of such studies will ensure that meaningful analysis is possible, and so this subject introduces the principles of design of experiments and of surveys. In particular, basic methods of analysis, such as Regression and Analysis of Variance, are covered. The ideas and methods are combined with case studies. This demonstrates the vital role of careful design and informative analysis in the "Scientific Method" as practised in most disciplines of science.

The subject uses the statistical package, GENSTAT for WINDOWS, and the Spreadsheet, EXCEL.

Aim of subject

To acquaint students with a variety of statistical methods, and to introduce them to the statistical package, GENSTAT for WINDOWS.

By the end of this course students should possess an appreciation of the basic concepts of experimental design.

Further they should be able to decide which method, of those included in this course, is most appropriate for analysing a particular set of data and be able to carry out that analysis using GenStat (Excel or a hand-calculator).

Content

• Introduction to the computing environment and GENSTAT for WINDOWS
• Simple Linear Regression (2 examples of regression)
• Regression through the Origin (Calibration problem)
• Polynomial Regression
• Multiple Linear Regression
• Testing Assumptions - Displaying of Residuals
• Sampling - Simple Random, Systematic, Stratified, Multi-stage, Sampling Plan
• Designed Experiments - Analysis of Variance
  • Completely Randomized Design (CRD) - (or single factor ANOVA or one-way ANOVA)
  • Theory of Least Squares Estimation
  • Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) - concepts of blocking and randomization
  • Two-way Classification and Factorial Designs
  • Split Plot Designs
• Nonparametric Statistics - (central tendency and dispersion)
  • Mann-Whitney U Test
  • Wilcoxon Matched Pairs Signed - Rank Test
  • Kruskal Wallis Analysis of Variance
  • Friedman Two-way Analysis of Variance

Text Books

There is no set text book.

Reference Books

• Colquhoun, D.(1971) Lectures in biostatistics. (Clarendon).
• Draper, N.R. and Smith, H.(1998) Applied Regression Analysis (3rd Ed.). (Wiley).
• Lane, P.W. and Payne, R.W.(1998) GENSTAT for WINDOWS: an Introductory Course (4th Ed). (Lawes Agricultural Trust - Rothamsted Experimental Station).
• McConway, K.J., Jones, M.C. and Taylor, P.C.(1999) Statistical Modelling using GENSTAT. (Arnold).
• Mead, R. and Curnow, R.C.(1983) Statistical methods in agriculture and experimental biology. (Chapman and Hall).
• Moore, D.S. and McCabe, G.P.(1998) Introduction to the Practice of Statistics (3rd Ed). (W.H. Freeman & Company).
• Siegel, S. and Castellan, N.J.(1988) Nonparametric statistics for the behavioural sciences (2nd Ed). (McGraw-Hill).
• Snedecor, G.W. and Cochran, W.G.(1980) Statistical methods (7th Ed). (The Iowa State University Press).
• Sokal, R.R. and Rohlf, F.J.(1995) Biometry (3rd Ed). (W.H. Freeman & Company).
• Zar, J.H.(1996) Biostatistical analysis (3rd Ed). (Prentice-Hall).

Pre-requisite Course

As the Level I subject Biomathematics and Statistics (6976 now STATS 1003) is the pre-requisite course for Biometry only students who have successfully passed the former course can enrol in Biometry (7931 now BIOMET 2000WT). (Note a Conceded Pass (CP) does not satisfy this pre-requisite requirement.)

Assessment

The assessment in this subject is as follows:

• Tutorial Exercises: 10%
• Mid-Semester Exam: 20%
• Final Exam: 70%

Tutorial exercises will be handed out weekly for the Friday tutorial and must be lodged in the Biometry PostBox before 11:10am on the following Friday. (Please use plastic envelopes to keep together the submitted material.) Exercises handed in after the due time will not be marked. Students unable to complete the weekly exercise due to medical or compassionate reasons must contact the Subject Co-ordinator (Trevor Hancock), as soon as is practicable, with written details including a medical certificate if appropriate.

Students are expected to work on the exercises during the tutorial period. Any student who does not attend at least 75% of the tutorials and submit at least 75% of the exercises may be precluded from the Final Examination in November.

Tutorial Exercises will be marked and, in total, will constitute 10% of the assessment for this course. (Students repeating the course will not be exempted from the Tutorial Exercise. That is, the completion of each Tutorial Exercise is an integral part of learning to correctly apply the material presented in the lectures and therefore must be repeated if the student has failed the course at the previous attempt. )

There will be a Mid-Semester Examination held during the weekly Tutorial period, on Friday the 5th of September. This Mid-Semester Examination will constitute 20% of the assessment for this course.

All work covered in the course will be examined in November and this Final Examination will constitute the other 70% of the final assessment. Both the Mid-Semester Examination and the Final Examination are "Open Book" exams. This means you can (in addition to pens, pencils, rulers, calculators etc) take your Lecture Notes, Handouts, and tables into the exam room. However you MUST NOT TAKE into the exam the Tutorial Exercises and Solutions handed out during the semester or your solutions to those weekly tutorials or your solutions to previous Exam Papers.

The students overall performance will be recorded as a scaled mark out of 100 and results summarized using the following grading scheme:

• Higher Distinction - 85% or greater
• Distinction - 75% to 84%
• Credit - 65% to 74%
• Pass - 50% to 64%
• Conceded Pass - 45% to 49%
• Fail - less than 45%

Students can arrange with the Course Co-ordinator to review their examination paper. Any unresolved discussion concerning the assessment will be referred to the Examiner's Committee for this course.

• Special Needs: Students with special needs are requested to inform the course co-ordinator, during the first week of the semester, so that appropriate arrangements are expedited.
• General Rules and Plagiarism: For general rules and procedures see the "Student Guide and Timetable" and give particular attention to the item on plagiarism. Copying of another student or author's work without proper acknowledgement is not accepted in this course.

Examination Information

Time and location of the Final Examination will be posted in the Foyer of the Undergraduate Teaching Wing at the Waite Institute. Students are required to check these for themselves.

For past Examination Papers visit http://www.library.adelaide.edu.au/eres/Biometry/

Supplementary Examination Policy

Revised procedures for Supplementary Assessment were approved by Academic Board on 28 July 1999. Accordingly Faculty Board at its meeting on 21 February 2000 approved the procedures below for adoption in all subjects taught by departments of the Faculty.

1. The offer of supplementary assessment is solely at the discretion of the examiner(s) and Head of the relevant department. No student is automatically entitled to supplementary assessment and the University is under no compulsion to offer supplementary assessment in any form.
2. For each subject a committee of the examiner(s) and the Head of Department (or nominee) will consider the final results. The ultimate decision lies with the Head of Department.
3. Where a student has not met the requirements to pass a subject, any form of supplementary assessment (including an exam) can be used which is judged to be fair and equitable for the student and subject concerned.
4. If a student applies for supplementary assessment based on medical or compassionate grounds the Examiners Committee will consider the student's overall performance in the subject. If justified, an appropriate adjustment will be made to the final mark or some supplementary assessment set.

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