This is Session Three of our free on-demand online course based around the book An Introduction to Basic Statistics for Biologists using R, and it assumes that you have a copy of this workbook in front of you so you can follow the instructions for each exercise provided in it. To find out where to purchase this book, click here. If you would prefer to complete a more detailed distance-learning or in-person version of the course that includes a certificate of attendance and completion and is led by one of the authors of An Introduction to Basic Statistics for Biologists using R, click here to find out when the next one is scheduled.
The information on this page will take you through the exercises in Chapter Five of the above book. These exercises cover assessing and transforming the distribution of biological data. You can find the introduction and the links to other sessions in this course here.
Assessing and Transforming the Distribution of Biological Data using R
Overview: In this session, you will learn about what a normal distribution is, why it is important to objectively test whether your data have a normal distribution, how to test for normality and how to use mathematical transformations to normalise non-normal data so you can apply parametric statistical tests to them. Duration: This session will take approximately two hours to complete.
Part One – Introductory Video
This video provides a summary of the introductory information for this chapter which you will find on pages 102 and 103 of An Introduction to Basic Statistics for Biologists using R. If you cannot see the video in the space below, click here to open a pop-out video viewer for it. Running Time: 3 minutes 38 seconds.
Part Two – Getting Started
This video outlines what you need to do to get ready to start the exercises in this chapter. The instructions for doing this can be found on pages 103 to 105 of An Introduction to Basic Statistics for Biologists using R. If you cannot see the video in the space below, click here to open a pop-out video viewer for it. Running Time: 57 seconds.
The link to download the compressed file containing the data for this course can be found here.
Part Three – Exercise 3.1: How to Assess Whether a Biological Data Set has a Normal Distribution using R
This video introduces Exercise 3.1, including what it will cover, why it is important and how your data need to be structured to run a normality test on your own data. This information can also be found on page 106 of An Introduction to Basic Statistics for Biologists using R. If you cannot see the video in the space below, click here to open a pop-out video viewer for it. Running Time: 2 minutes 36 seconds.
Once you have watched this video, you can work through the instructions for this exercise which you will find on pages 107 to 116 of An Introduction to Basic Statistics for Biologists using R. These will provide you with all the information you need to successfully complete it.
Part Four – Exercise 3.2: How to Normalise Biological Data using a Mathematical Transformation in R
This video introduces Exercise 3.2, including what it will cover, why it is important and how your data need to be structured to apply mathematical transformations to your own data. This information can also be found on pages 116 and 117 of An Introduction to Basic Statistics for Biologists using R. If you cannot see the video in the space below, click here to open a pop-out video viewer for it. Running Time: 2 minutes 51 seconds.
Once you have watched this video, you can work through the instructions for this exercise which you will find on pages 118 to 126 of An Introduction to Basic Statistics for Biologists using R. These will provide you with all the information you need to successfully complete it.
End of Session Three
Once you have worked through the two exercises in this session, you can click here to move on to Session Four (based on Chapter Six of An Introduction to Basic Statistics for Biologists using R) or you can click here return to the home page for this course.