Biology › Scientific method and quantitative biology

Scientific method and quantitative biology

Unit B00 · 4 lessons.

Notes

Illustrated notes for each topic in this unit, with worked examples and a checklist of objectives.

• Variables and controls: what an experiment can show
  Independent, dependent and controlled variables and how to choose the levels of one; the difference between a control variable and a control…
• Handling data: units, scales, rates and uncertainty
  Units, prefixes and standard form; where significant figures come from; ratios and magnification; percentage change against percentage difference…
• Averages, spread and the null hypothesis
  Mean, median and mode and when each is the right average; why a standard deviation says more than a range and why it divides by n minus 1; what an…
• Choosing, carrying out and concluding a statistical test
  Choosing between chi-squared, Student's t-test and Spearman's rank correlation from the shape of the data; the conditions each test assumes and the…