Statistics for Veterinary and Animal Science

Book excerpt: Banish your fears of statistical analysis using this clearly written and highly successful textbook. Statistics for Veterinary and Animal Science Third Edition is an introductory text which assumes no previous knowledge of statistics. It starts with very basic methodology and builds on it to encompass some of the more advanced techniques that are currently used. This book will enable you to handle numerical data and critically appraise the veterinary and animal science literature. Written in a non-mathematical way, the emphasis is on understanding the underlying concepts and correctly interpreting computer output, and not on working through mathematical formulae. Key features: Flow charts are provided to enable you to choose the correct statistical analyses in different situations Numerous real worked examples are included to help you master the procedures Two statistical packages, SPSS and Stata, are used to analyse data to familiarise you with typical computer output The data sets from the examples in the book are available as electronic files to download from the book’s companion website in ASCII, Excel, SPSS, Stata and R Workspace formats, allowing you to practice using your own software and fully get to grips with the techniques A clear indication is provided of the more advanced or obscure topics so that, if desired, you can skip them without loss of continuity. New to this edition: New chapter on reporting guidelines relevant to veterinary medicine as a ready reference for those wanting to follow best practice in planning and writing up research New chapter on critical appraisal of randomized controlled trials and observational studies in the published literature: a template is provided which is used to critically appraise two papers New chapter introducing specialist topics: ethical issues of animal investigations, spatial statistics, veterinary surveillance, and statistics in molecular and quantitative genetics Expanded glossaries of notation and terms Additional exercises and further explanations added throughout to make the book more comprehensive. Carrying out statistical procedures and interpreting the results is an integral part of veterinary and animal science. This is the only book on statistics that is specifically written for veterinary science and animal science students, researchers and practitioners.