Applying Statistical Tests and Analyzing Results: A Technical Report

This exercise aims to assess your ability to apply statistical tests covered in the course appropriately, to interpret the results of these tests and to present these results effectively. Requirements You have been tasked with writing a report for an organisation that wants to produce guidelines for growing conservation field margins to provide resources for seed-eating birds. As part of this project they have set up an experiment and your role is to analyse the results of these experiment, then present and interpret the results in your report.

Their experiment was set up to test the effect of two different seed mixes and two different fertiliser treatments on seed production. At the end of the experiment two variables were measured for each plot: the weight of seeds and the fat content of the seeds. Both of these variables were of interest because both effect the quality of the seed as a food resource for birds.

In the data file these are given as yield (weight of seeds, t/ha) and fat (fat content, %). The organisation is interested in knowing three things: firstly whether the different treatments affect the weight of seeds, secondly whether the different treatments affect the fat content of the seeds and thirdly whether there is a relationship between the weight of seeds and their fat content. You should perform appropriate statistical analyses to help answer these questions, taking account of the experimental design described below.

(T1) seed mix 1 with no fertiliser,

(T2) seed mix 2 with no fertiliser,

(T3) seed mix 1 with nitrogen fertiliser and

(T4) seed mix 2 with nitrogen fertiliser. 

You are required to produce a technical report based on an analysis of the dataset that you are provided. This dataset will be unique for each student and can be found on the Blackboard site and identified using your student ID number. 

• A suitable title and author details (i.e. you must include your student ID number, but not your name)

• A short introduction describing the purpose of the technical report

• A series of logical sections to present the results, a section might include o A statement reporting the statistical method that you used for an analysis o A table and/or graph presenting the results of your analysis o A short paragraph interpreting of the results of the analysis 

• A conclusion that sums up the results and potentially makes suggestions for further experimental work 

• An appendix that might include any additional tests or diagnostics that you used to ensure the validity of your results You do not need to discuss the wider implications of your results, merely present them in a way that would enable others to understand and use them.

Assessment criteria Your management plan will be marked in accordance with the University Wide Framework for Degree Classifications and will be assessed against the following criteria:

• Relevance and accuracy of content showing appropriate choice and application of statistical methods

• Clear and concise presentation of results in tables and graphs

• Critical interpretation of your results to form justified conclusions

• Structure and clarity of the report. 

The Module Convener will apply the following penalties for work submitted late, in accordance with the policy.

• where the piece of work is submitted up to one calendar week after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for the piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of five working days;

• where the piece of work is submitted more than five working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.