1. MAS1401 Statistical Methods An Introduction to Statistical Methods used in the Agricultural and Biological Sciences Lecturer: Dr David Walshaw School of Mathematics and Statistics, Merz Court

2. Course Arrangements :  Lectures: Just one each week, Monday 10am, Bedson LT1.  Computer Practical Classes: One two-hour session in each even week. GROUPS Tuesday9-11Stephenson Tree PC Wednesday9-11Merz Oracle PC Thursday9-11Daysh Brae PC Friday9-11Daysh Brae PC Check with your degree programme office for your group!

3. Assessment  There is *no* exam for this course!!!  Assessment: 100% based on assignments set in the practical classes.  There will be six assignments. Don’t fall behind!

4. Course Structure  The course is run in fortnightly blocks, each ending in a practical session with a set assignment.  The fortnightly blocks correspond to the six chapters in the course: Chapter 1.Descriptive statistics Chapter 2. Studying Normal populations Chapter 3. Confidence intervals and hypothesis tests Chapter 4. Analysis of variation (ANOVA) Chapter 4. Analysis of variation (ANOVA) Chapter 5.Studying non-Normal populations Chapter 6. Correlation and linear regression

5. Course Notes  PowerPoint presentations given in the lecture, then made available on the web.  Fortnightly handouts summarizing the material from each chapter. Given out in lectures.  Additional notes for you to take down in the lectures, and available only in the lectures.

6. Study Methods  We will analyse data using the computer package MINITAB.  The emphasis will be on understanding the analysis and interpreting the results.  Mathematics will be kept to a minimum!!

7.  I don’t use Blackboard.  Materials for this course will be on the web: http://www.mas.ncl.ac.uk/~ndw/mas1401.htm