AP Biology
Statistics
Organize, analyze, and see trends in data
Significant
Figures
- Indicate the precision of a
measurement
- Numbers that carry meaning
Ex. 2 meters has one sig fig
2.03 meters has three sig figs and
is more precise
When doing calculations, sig figs in a final answer are
determined by the number that is the least precise in
your dataset and only round your final answer.
Ex. Calculate the area of a rectangle (w x h)
Width - 4.33 ft
Height - 2 ft 4.33 x 2 = 8.66 but the answer is 9
This is because among the numbers used in the
calculation, 2 ft (with one sig fig) is the least precise
Average: Mean, Median, and Mode
Mean Median Mode
Most common type of The middle value of a The value that shows up
average. How to: Add all group of values. most frequently in all the
numbers in dataset and How to: list the values in measurements. How to:
divide by the number of numerical order and list the values and
values in the dataset identify the middle value determine which value
occurs the most
Spread of Data:
NORMAL DISTRIBUTION
* Often seen in Biology
* forms a graph pattern with a smooth, bell-shaped curve
Ex: Human height
Most heights fall into the midrange. A few people are very short or very tall.
They fall into the two extremes on each end of the distribution.
Mean
Median The mean, median and mode are all the
Mode same value on this curve.
# of individuals
Peak of curve is largest number of
people (mode)
Peak falls in middle of the dataset
(median) Not all datasets form a
Equal # of values on either side of normal curve when
median (mean) is in the middle too graphed so different
curves could show the
Height (inches) mean, median and
mode are not the same.
Spread of Data:
STANDARD DEVIATION
* way to measure the spread of the data (s)
* indicates how far the values in a dataset as a whole are from the mean
* smaller (s) indicates a tighter clustering of measurements around the mean
* larger (s) indicates a wider spread of the measurements around the mean
-1s +1s
Calculate the difference between the
-2s +2s individual measurement and the mean
and square it. Add all of these squares,
68%
divide by n-1 and take the square root of
95% the result.
Uncertainty in Data:
Error Bars
* vertical line on a graph that indicates a range of values within which the true value is very
likely to fall
* provides a measure of confidence that a scientist has in a particular data point
Error bar
Avg height of students The error bar for classroom A does not
in room A
overlap with any of the others, so it is
Average height
significantly different from the others. The
error bars for classrooms B & C do overlap, so
there is probably not a significant difference
(inches)
between these two groups.
A B C D
Classroom
Analyzing and
Interpreting Data
Hypotheses (tentative explanation for
one or more observations and must be
testable) are supported or rejected on the
basis of data
Analyzing and Interpreting Data
Types of Data
Hypotheses
(tentative
explanation for one
or more observations Qualitative Quantitative
and must be Descriptive (words) Numerical (numbers)
testable) are
supported or
rejected on the basis Ex. the corn plant stem is Ex. the corn plant stem
of data “short” or “tall” measures 2.04m or 2.76m
Data helps scientists understand whether the data
collected is statistically significant or is the difference just
do to chance
Null Hypothesis vs Alternative
Hypothesis
To answer the question of whether the data is statistically significant or just do
to chance, researchers will first state a null and alternative hypothesis
Null Hypothesis Alternative Hypothesis
predicts that the intervention or predicts that the intervention or
treatment has no effect at all; so treatment has an effect; so the
any difference between the difference is real and statistically
groups is due to chance alone and significant
nothing else is responsible for the
difference
Percent Change
(Analyzing Data)
Useful to compare an initial value to a final value, which allows
you to see how much something has increased or decreased
Daffodil bulbs with parasites were immersed in hot water for various times to
try to eliminate the parasites. He immersed 50 bulbs for 30 mins and 50
bulbs for 1 hr. At the end of the 30 mins, 10 daffodil bulbs were free of
parasites. At the end of 1 hr, 25 of the daffodil bulbs were free of parasites.
What was the percent change in the number of healthy, parasite-free bulbs
as the immersion time increased?
25-10
X 100 = 150%
10