Vår 2022

BIO-8105 Ecological methodology: Study design and statistical analysis - 10 stp

The course is administrated by

Institutt for arktisk og marin biologi

Type of course

Mandatory course for all master students in biology. The course is also available as a singular course

It is recommended to have the course BIO-2004 Study designs and data analysis in biology I or an equivalent introductory course of statistics for biologists.

It is also recommended to have knowledge of programming in R. We strongly advise students with no or little experience with programming in R to follow introductory seminars combined with digital courses in R, offered in the first 2 weeks of January.

Course overlap

BIO-3123 Ecological methodology: Study design and statistical analysis 10 stp

Course contents

The course aims to demonstrate how ecological theory, study designs and analyses should be linked, and the course should make students able to plan and conduct empirical, ecological research through all stages of the research processes from formulation of hypotheses to the presentation and interpretation of the results. Simple (e.g. crossed) as well as more advanced (e.g. split-plot, multi-level) experimental and observational designs are presented and compared with respect to issues such as precision, confounding and bias. Statistical aspects of the course focus on statistical estimation of biologically relevant effects and issues of model selection. Statistical methods covered are generalised linear and additive models, and a short introduction to the bootstrap is given. Multivariate analyses (PCA, Correspondence Analysis) are also briefly covered. The course emphasized also the practical aspects through the analyses of real data sets in R. The course is relevant for doctoral students within all field of ecology and evolutionary biology.

Application deadline

PhD students at UiT register for the course through StudentWeb before 1 February. The registration starts in middle of December.

Other applicants apply for admission through SøknadsWeb before 1. December. Application code 9301. Applicants who are granted a seat, needs to register for classes and exam in StudentWeb before 1 February. The registration starts in middle of December.

Admission requirements

Who can apply as a singular course student:

PhD student enrolled at another institution than UiT. PhD students must upload a document from their university stating that there are registered PhD students. This group of applicants does not have to prove English proficiency and are exempt from semester fee.
Holders of a master´s degree of five years or 3+2 years (or equivalent) may be admitted. These applicants must upload a Master´s Diploma with Diploma Supplement / English translation of the diploma. Applicants from listed countries must document proficiency in English. To find out if this applies to you, see the following list: Proficiency in English must be documented - list of countries. For more information on accepted English proficiency tests and scores, as well as exemptions from the English proficiency tests, please see the following document: Proficiency in english - PhD level studies

Objective of the course

The course aims to make students able to plan and conduct empirical, ecological research through all stages of the research processes from formulation of hypotheses, statistical analyses and to the presentation and interpretation of the results. The course focuses on the underlying principles of study design and statistical methods.

Language of instruction

The language of instruction is English and all of the syllabus material is in English. Examination questions will be given in English, but may be answered either in English or a Scandinavian language.

Teaching methods

Lectures 30 hours and PC-lab 30 hours.

Assessment

Oral exam and project work. Grade: Pass/Fail.

Project work must be approved to take the oral exam.

Re-sit exam:

There will not be arranged a re-sit exam for this course.

Date for examination

Project hand in date 08.04.2022

The date for the exam can be changed. The final date will be announced at your faculty early in May and early in November.