Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction
- 2 A framework for investigating biological patterns and processes
- 3 Populations, frequency distributions and samples
- 4 Statistical tests of null hypotheses
- 5 Statistical tests on samples
- 6 Simple experiments comparing the means of two populations
- 7 Analysis of variance
- 8 More analysis of variance
- 9 Nested analyses of variance
- 10 Factorial experiments
- 11 Construction of any analysis from general principles
- 12 Some common and some particular experimental designs
- 13 Analyses involving relationships among variables
- 14 Conclusions: where to from here?
- References
- Author index
- Subject index
2 - A framework for investigating biological patterns and processes
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction
- 2 A framework for investigating biological patterns and processes
- 3 Populations, frequency distributions and samples
- 4 Statistical tests of null hypotheses
- 5 Statistical tests on samples
- 6 Simple experiments comparing the means of two populations
- 7 Analysis of variance
- 8 More analysis of variance
- 9 Nested analyses of variance
- 10 Factorial experiments
- 11 Construction of any analysis from general principles
- 12 Some common and some particular experimental designs
- 13 Analyses involving relationships among variables
- 14 Conclusions: where to from here?
- References
- Author index
- Subject index
Summary
Introduction
Progress in understanding biological phenomena requires a formal procedure to identify what are the phenomena and what constitutes understanding. Unless the steps and sequences of a research programme are clear to others, there will be argument and debate about the problems, the data, their interpretations, etc. This is usually a very unprofitable debate because it is not about our understanding of natural systems, but about our inadequacies in dealing with them. The framework used here is not unique; nor is it widely agreed by others (e.g. Diamond, 1986). It is, however, a logical procedure. Failure to conform to some coherent framework or failure to provide any rational justification for the way some study is done only adds to the confusion already widespread in the science of ecology (Peters, 1991). As will be described below, there is always a need for some logical procedure to identify the most likely explanations for biological phenomena.
The procedure described here is a version of one in widespread use in ecology. This version of it was described in full by Underwood (1990), with detailed ecological examples discussed by Underwood (1991a). It is not important, at this stage, for you to agree with the components and their linkages. What is important is to realize the need for all experimental investigations to be viewed as a step in some sequence of logical steps.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Experiments in EcologyTheir Logical Design and Interpretation Using Analysis of Variance, pp. 7 - 23Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1996