Statistical Relationships Simplified

Newswise — It's no secret: statistics is not a favorite subject for most undergraduate students. They understand why statistics is important, but find it confusing and therefore difficult. This attitude often lasts into employment, and is magnified because researchers have a range of options in terms of how they analyze their experimental data. Common questions asked of statisticians include: Which analysis is most appropriate? How do they relate to each other? How should information be presented?

Dave Saville, Lincoln Research Centre, New Zealand, and Jacqueline Rowarth, Massey University, New Zealand, write about how to teach the subject of statistics in an article published in the 2008 Journal of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Education.

"In order to assist students -- and researchers -- we developed a basic statistics flow chart showing inter-relationships between commonly-used statistical terms, and a graphic showing the relative sizes of the error bars that can be used in journal figures."

These figures have been used to form the two sides of a laminated ready-reference sheet, which has improved understanding of statistical presentation, and hence interpretation, for students and researchers.

The authors comment, "Our double-sided laminate is displayed on the wall in many offices and student laboratories in New Zealand. Researchers find it particularly useful when trying to understand scientific papers" .

Dave Saville, a biometrician, finds the laminate very useful as a teaching resource in his short courses on design, analysis and interpretation of agricultural experiments.

The full article is available for no charge for 30 days following the date of this summary. View the abstract at http://www.jnrlse.org/pdf/2008/E07-0044.pdf. After 30 days it will be available at the Journal of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Education website, http://www.jnrlse.org. Go to http://www.jnrlse.org/issues/ (Click on the Year, "View Article List," and scroll down to article abstract).

Today's educators are looking to the Journal of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Education, http://www.jnrlse.org for the latest teaching techniques in the life sciences, natural resources, and agriculture. The journal is continuously updated online during the year and one hard copy is published in December by the American Society of Agronomy.

The American Society of Agronomy (ASA) www.agronomy.org, is a scientific society helping its 8,000+ members advance the disciplines and practices of agronomy by supporting professional growth and science policy initiatives, and by providing quality, research-based publications and a variety of member services.