This richly illustrated book provides an overview of the design and analysis of experiments with a focus on non-clinical experiments in the life sciences, including animal research. It covers the most common aspects of experimental design such as handling multiple treatment factors and improving precision. In addition, it addresses experiments with large numbers of treatment factors and response surface methods for optimizing experimental conditions or biotechnological yields. The book emphasizes the estimation of effect sizes and the principled use of statistical arguments in the broader scientific context. It gradually transitions from classical analysis of variance to modern linear mixed models, and provides detailed information on power analysis and sample size determination, including 'portable power' formulas for making quick approximate calculations. In turn, detailed discussions of several real-life examples illustrate the complexities and aberrations that can arise in practice. Chiefly intended for students, teachers and researchers in the fields of experimental biology and biomedicine, the book is largely self-contained and starts with the necessary background on basic statistical concepts. The underlying ideas and necessary mathematics are gradually introduced in increasingly complex variants of a single example. Hasse diagrams serve as a powerful method for visualizing and comparing experimental designs and deriving appropriate models for their analysis. Manual calculations are provided for early examples, allowing the reader to follow the analyses in detail. More complex calculations rely on the statistical software R, but are easily transferable to other software. Though there are few prerequisites for effectively using the book, previous exposure to basic statistical ideas and the software R would be advisable.

The text gives a concise introduction into fundamental concepts in statistics. Chapter 1: Short exposition of probability theory, using generic examples. Chapter 2: Estimation in theory and practice, using biologically motivated examples. Maximum-likelihood estimation in covered, including Fisher information and power computations. Methods for calculating confidence intervals and robust alternatives to standard estimators are given. Chapter 3: Hypothesis testing with emphasis on concepts, particularly type-I , type-II errors, and interpreting test results. Several examples are provided. T-tests are used throughout, followed important other tests and robust/nonparametric alternatives. Multiple testing is discussed in more depth, and combination of independent tests is explained. Chapter 4: Linear regression, with computations solely based on R. Multiple group comparisons with ANOVA are covered together with linear contrasts, again using R for computations.

This richly illustrated book provides an overview of the design and analysis of experiments with a focus on non-clinical experiments in the life sciences, including animal research. It covers the most common aspects of experimental design such as handling multiple treatment factors and improving precision. In addition, it addresses experiments with large numbers of treatment factors and response surface methods for optimizing experimental conditions or biotechnological yields. The book emphasizes the estimation of effect sizes and the principled use of statistical arguments in the broader scientific context. It gradually transitions from classical analysis of variance to modern linear mixed models, and provides detailed information on power analysis and sample size determination, including 'portable power' formulas for making quick approximate calculations. In turn, detailed discussions of several real-life examples illustrate the complexities and aberrations that can arise in practice. Chiefly intended for students, teachers and researchers in the fields of experimental biology and biomedicine, the book is largely self-contained and starts with the necessary background on basic statistical concepts. The underlying ideas and necessary mathematics are gradually introduced in increasingly complex variants of a single example. Hasse diagrams serve as a powerful method for visualizing and comparing experimental designs and deriving appropriate models for their analysis. Manual calculations are provided for early examples, allowing the reader to follow the analyses in detail. More complex calculations rely on the statistical software R, but are easily transferable to other software. Though there are few prerequisites for effectively using the book, previous exposure to basic statistical ideas and the software R would be advisable.