Natural Science 0284 - Advanced Statistical Modeling

With the dramatic increase in data availability, it is not uncommon to be working with a data set which has far more variables than samples. This is particularly true for ecological data sets, but examples can be found in all scientific fields. This course will teach various multivariate analysis methods designed for exploring high-dimensional data sets and testing related hypotheses. Many of the techniques will use non-parametric, permutation-based algorithms which are simultaneously simple and effective. All skills learned in the course will be applied to real data sets. Students will be expected to culminate the course by finding their own high-dimensional data sets for analysis. They will design and apply an appropriate set of analyses and report their findings. Prior experience in statistics is essential. Keywords:Statistics, Biodiversity, Modeling

Students should expect to spend 6-8 hours weekly on work and preparation outside of class time.