Unit information: Quantitative Methods in Biology in 2009/10

Please note: you are viewing unit and programme information for a past academic year. Please see the current academic year for up to date information.

Unit name Quantitative Methods in Biology
Unit code BIOL20001
Credit points 10
Level of study I/5
Teaching block(s) Teaching Block 1A (weeks 1 - 6)
Unit director Professor. Memmott
Open unit status Not open
Pre-requisites

This unit is normally only available to students taking degree programmes in Biological Sciences

Co-requisites

None

School/department School of Biological Sciences
Faculty Faculty of Life Sciences

Description including Unit Aims

Asking the right questions in the right way and being able to analyse the results of experiments are both very important skills in biology. The aim of this unit is to teach these skills. The unit will provide students with a basic understanding of experimental design and statistical analysis. The former will address issues such as sample size, replication and blocking. The latter will include t-tests, correlation, regression, analyses of variance and non-parametric methods. Lectures will be interspersed with numerous worked examples using data from real biological systems. Practical classes will involve the use of computer software packages to handle data and to carry out simple statistical analyses.