MA101A Distributions, Tests and Graphics
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Contents |
Objectives
The various statistical distributions covered will help you know when assumptions can be made about a normal distribution and how to test whether or not these assumptions are true. Essential descriptive statistics are reviewed and then used in various situations to calculate background, noise, normalization and thresholding. Additionally, hypothesis testing is introduced so that you can assess groups of observations for a particular parameter and calculate whether or not the difference between groups is significant. Data visualization using various graphs will also be reviewed. Armed with these techniques, you will be able to better deal with the challenges of data analysis. Plus, you'll be able to understand and interpret data at a more fundamental level and draw the correct conclusions about them.
The entire course will be conducted in R, a free and open-source package for statistical computing that has become an essential part of the biostatistician's toolbox. Unlike Bioinformatics.Org course CS101B (R for Biologists, Level 1), this course focuses on the mathematical principles of statistical analysis and not on the syntax and functionality of R.
No experience is required, although prior experience with a programming language will be helpful. Math skills will also be useful.
Instructor
Syllabus
- Day 1: Probability distributions and how to work with them
- Day 2: Descriptive statistics for summarizing vector and matrix data
- Day 3: Student t-tests, Wilcoxon tests for analyzing one and two sample data
- Day 4: Use of the techniques covered in the previous sessions to do a biological data analysis project
Scheduled courses
If you are interested in an upcoming course, register using instructions below. (Access to completed courses is available to enrolled students only, because of privacy and confidentiality issues.)
- Upcoming courses
- Completed courses
- Ongoing courses
Registration
Registration for courses at Bioinformatics.Org takes two steps:
- Step 1
- If you haven't already done so, create an on-line account to access the educational section of our website. Please note that the registration for our educational system is separate from that of the main website; you will require another account.
- Step 2
- Register for the course by making a payment using either the on-line registration form (click on the name of the course where it appears in the list of upcoming courses; use this form only for PayPal payments and credit card payments via secured PayPal), or by sending in the registration form (PDF; use this form if paying by US checks, credit card or corporate purchase order).
Please also check the course tuition rates and discounts.
Registration deadline: When full
Tuition & discounts
- Live instruction held on-line
- For-profit & government: $500 USD
- Non-profit & self-pay: $300 USD
- Live instruction held on-site
- For-profit & government: $600 USD
- Non-profit & self-pay: $400 USD
- On-demand instruction held on-line
- For-profit & government: $300 USD
- Non-profit & self-pay: $200 USD
Additional discounts are available as follows:
- Professional members: 20% discount
- Limited scholarships may also be available for those residing in low-income economies (please inquire).
Logistics
The necessary software, lecture notes and exercises will be provided.
Live instruction held on-line
On-line/live courses use the WebEx on-line meeting system. Access information will be provided prior to the start of the course. Unless otherwise noted, each lecture begins at 16:00 GMT and runs for about an hour, depending on the topics covered.
For those who cannot attend the lectures at those times, the lectures will be recorded and placed on the course website as AVI video files each day, within one day. Students will also be able to communicate with the instructor and other students via the course forums. Lecture attendance is therefore not required.
Since this will be an interactive, hands-on workshop, all attendees will need a computer with a broadband Internet connection (1 Mbps or faster is strongly recommended for those watching the live lecture), a sound card with speakers, a modern Web browser, and Java. A microphone and webcam are not required but may be used.
Certification
This course is certified by the Bioinformatics Organization, Inc., the largest international affiliation in the field, and it will count as 3 "Continuing Scientific Education" (CSE) units (one unit per contact hour) within the Organization. Students completing the course will receive a certificate attesting to that.
Additional information
Please contact us for questions or additional information.
