Using Statistics To Understand The Environment

This text discusses the importance of statistics in understanding the environment, particularly in environmental investigations. It covers basic statistical tests and techniques, as well as more advanced methods that may be needed for complex research designs. The book includes worked examples, drawings, and icons, as well as chapter summaries, a glossary, and further reading suggestions. The authors aim to make learning statistics more accessible and less daunting for students, with a focus on practical application rather than mathematical theory.

It has long been the case that introductory courses to statistics have been the bane of many students early academic lives. Yet the concepts and techniques involved are crucial to the understanding of the systems under examination. This is particularly true for environmental investigations, which cover a broad sweep of disciplines: from social science to pollution studies and from environmental management to ecology. Since these systems are complex, statistical methods are important techniques in the interpretation of project results. This text covers the basic tests required for environmental practicals and projects and points the way to the more advanced techniques that may be needed in more complex research designs. Following an introduction to project design, the book covers methods to describe data, to examine differences between samples, and to identify relationships and associations between variables. Featuring worked examples covering a wide range of environmental topics, drawings and icons, chapter summaries, a glossary of statistical terms and a further reading section, this book focuses on the needs of the researcher rather than on the mathematics behind the tests and pr Review: 'Learning statistics appeals to few undergraduates, but this carfully planned book will help to make the task as painless as possible. Wheater and Cook have written a statistics textbook that is accessible both conceptually and mathematically Using Statistics to Understand the Environment will help students to overcome any mathematical qualms they may have, and encourage them to design effective and interesting research projects.' - Holocene Book Reviews