Meeting the statistical needs of researchers in the biological and health sciences

Abstract

The results of a survey on the use of statistics in research in five subject areas representative of the biological and health sciences are reported. The main component of the survey is a review of statistical methods in 2927 research papers published during 1999 in 16 high impact journals from botany, ecology, food science, marine science and nutrition. A factor analysis establishes that research papers in the different subject areas use different methods. The opinions of research staff and postgraduate students working in these areas are also reported. To support these opinions we provide details of five postgraduate studies involving advanced statistical analyses, which have either resulted in publication or should result in publication in the near future. Discussion develops recommendations about topics important in a statistics curriculum for research students, where statistics courses should be taught, what is needed in terms of level of theory, the use of short courses and workshops, and the value of project work.