BIOL 11052

>< Type/Status: Compulsory for biological science students.
>< Title: Biostatistics
>< Pre-requisites: G. C. E. (A. L.) Biology
>< Objectives
After completion of this course, students will be able to demonstrate knowledge of different statistical methods used in the analysis of numerical data; gathering, analyzing and interpreting biological data and experimental design.
>< Course content:

Scientific method and the statistical approach, population parameters and sample statistics, probability and cumulative density functions, binomial distribution, hypergeometric distribution, poisson distribution, normal distribution, confidence intervals, error-bound hypothesis testing, goodness of fit techniques, Chi square test, Kolmogorov- Smirnov test,

Sampling techniques: simple random sampling, stratified sampling and cluster sampling; Simple linear regression, multiple regression, probit analysis, product moment correlation, One-way analysis of variance, multiple comparison procedures: Tukey’s test, Scheffe’s test.

Non-parametric statistics: Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal Wallis test, Wilcoxon signed rank test, Spearman’s rank correlation. Experimental design: fully randomized design, randomized block design and Latin square design.

>< Methodology : Combination of lectures, tutorials discussions and practical work on the use of statistical software packages such as MINITAB.
>< Scheme of evaluation: End of semester written examination
>< Recommended reading:
1. Fowler, J. and Cohen, L. (1994) Practical Statistics for Field Biology: Wiley & Sons, Chichester.
2. Zar, J.H. (1999) Biostatistical Methods. Prentice-Hall, New Jersey.
3. Sokal, R.R. and Rohlf, F. (1995) Biometry: W.H. Freeman and Company, New York

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