Before we start our summer series of GIS courses, GIS In Ecology will be running a new instructor-led online course based around our latest book, An Introduction to Basic Statistics for Biologists using R.
In the last decadde, R has become the software package for analysing all types of biological data, including data collected from marine mammals. As a result, knowing how to use R can now be considered a key skill for almost all marine mammalogists. However, many people (especially those who primarily work in non-academic environments) struggle to learn R, leaving them unable to make the most of its powerful data processing and analytical capabilities to the detriment of their own research and the field of marine mammalogiy as a whole.
This course will be held over Zoom video-conferencing and will provide all the practical knowledge and experience you need to get started with analysing biological data using R. As a result, no previous experience with R or statistical analysis is required to do this course. It uses a user-friendly approach based around task-oriented learning (which will be familiar to those who have previously done our GIS courses or used our books), meaning that it can help you quickly and easily get to grips with using R for data processing, creating graphs, and statistical analysis of biological data in a short space of time, even if you have never used R before, or have tried before and have found yourself struggling to use it successfully.
It will run from the 6th to the 9th of July 2020, with one session being held each day between 14:00 and 17:00 British Summer Time (we are based in Scotland so this is the time zone we operate in). This allows participants from as wide a range of time zones to participate in the course. However, if these times are not suitable for you, please let us know as we may be able to provide the same sessions at other times of day, depending on demand.
Attendance will be limited to a maximum of 19 people. The fees for this course are GBP 250 per person (with a discounted rate of GBP 195 for students, the unwaged and those working for registered charities).
To book a place, or for more information, you can either visit http://gisinecology.com/stats-for-biologists-1/live-online-course-an-introduction-to-basic-statistics-for-biologists-using-r/ or email us at info@GISinEcology.com.
About the Course:
This is a practical course and it is aimed at anyone who wishes to learn how to carry out basic data processing and statistical analyses on biological data using R. This includes importing data sets into R, error-checking and processing them to prepare them for analysis, calculating basic summary statistics, creating graphs, assessing and transforming their distributions, and running statistical tests such as Shapiro-Wilk tests, t-tests, Mann-Whitney U tests, paired t-tests, Wilcoxon Matched Pairs tests, F-tests for equality of variance, Levene’s tests, ANOVAs, Kruskal-Walis tests, chi-squared tests, correlations and linear regressions. It will also cover how to use R, how to work out how to do things for yourself in R and how to create annotated R script archives of what you have done.
Each session will consist of a series of background talk covering specific topics (more details are provided below), followed by related practical exercises based on instructions from An Introduction to Basic Statistics for Biologists using R. As a result, all participants will receive a free copy of this book shipped to their address in advance of the start of the course. While you are encouraged to remain online during the practical sessions, you can choose to go off-line as you work though the exercises (or if you need to take a break). However, if you have any questions, the course instructor will be available throughout the course for you to ask any questions you wish at any point.
This course will be hosted by Dr Colin D MacLeod, one of the authors of An Introduction to Basic Statistics for Biologists using R. Dr MacLeod has been working in biological research for more than 25 years. He is the author of over 50 peer-reviewed publications and a series of books written to help biologists learn practical skills, such as statistics and GIS.
At the end of the course, all attendees will receive a certificate of attendance and completion. Each certificate is embossed with the GIS In Ecology official stamp to prevent its fraudulent reproduction. In addition, each certificate has its own unique identification number that we will record, along with your name, meaning that we can verify the authenticity of the certificates we issue (and the course you have completed) on request.
1. An introduction to R and Rstudio (and, if required, this will include help with installing these software packages).
2. What you need to know to get started with using R.
3. What to do if you get stuck with using R for data processing and statistical analysis.
4. How to import data into R and prepare it for analysis.
5. How to create graphs from biological data in R.
6. How to assess and transform the distribution of biological data.
7. How to compare data from different groups with statistical analysis.
8. How to use correlations and regressions to biological data.
9. How to work out how to do things in R.
10. How to create an annotated R code archive so you have a record of what you have done.