A Guide to Using Statistics in BCS Lab Courses

This Stats Wiki is a guide to the use of statistical tests and software tools in BCS lab courses. If you are an undergraduate student who has been enrolled in a lab course, you are encouraged to skim through the example problems in this wiki before class begins. In the process of designing experiments and conducting statistical tests, this wiki can also help you by providing toy problems and their solutions, from which you can work by analogy.

If you are a graduate TA, please feel free to edit this wiki to make it more useful to students. To request editing permissions to this wiki (an existing wiki account is required), please contact Ting at tqian@bcs.rochester.edu .

Table of Contents

• Experimental Design Basics

  • Random Variables

    • Continuous vs. discrete

  • Representing Probabilities

  • Populations and Samples

    • Summary statistics

    • Estimators

    • Dependent vs. independent variables

  • Within- vs. Between-Subjects Experimental Designs

• Choose the Right Statistical Test

• Interpreting the Statistical Significance of a Result

• Common Scenarios (Parametric Tests):

  • When should you ''NOT'' use the following tests?

  • There is one variable of interest:

    • Is the variable of interest different from a hypothetical value (e.g. chance)?

    • Is some variable different across two groups?

    • Is some variable different across three or more groups? If so, between which two groups?

  • There are two variables of interest:

    • Are the two variables related to one another?

    • Does one of the variables predict the other?

  • There are three or more variables of interest:

    • What situations involve three or more variables?

    • Two-way ANOVA

    • Multiple regression

• Statistical Software Programs:

  • Prism 4.0

  • Vassar Stats

• Homework Sets: