Applied Statistics for Life Sciences
In science, statistical techniques provide a means of weighing quantitative evidence derived from observation and experimentation while accounting for uncertainty. This class aims to provide a hands-on introduction to common statistical methods used almost universally across the life sciences and a primer on statistical concepts. Examples emphasize applications with relevance to students’ majors, and students learn to perform simple analyses in R.
Read the [course syllabus] for more information.
Check back on Monday 7/23/25.
Instructor: Trevor Ruiz (he/him) [email]
Office hours: TWR on Zoom and [by appointment]
Class meetings: asynchronous online [canvas] [youtube] [piazza]
Final exam: in-person Thursday 7/24/25 10:10am – 1:00pm in 38-122
Week 1 (6/23/25)
Introduction to data, descriptive statistics, and foundations for statistical inference
- [reading] Vu and Harrington 1.1-1.5, 3.3.1-3.3.3, and 4.1-4.2
- [lecture 1] study design, data semantics
- [lecture 2] descriptive statistics
- [lecture 3] point estimation
- [lecture 4] interval estimation
- [HW1] due Thursday 6/26/25 11:59pm PDT
Week 2 (6/30/25)
Statistical inference for one, two, and many means
- [reading] Vu and Harrington 4.3, 5.3-5.5
- [lecture 5] inference for a single population mean: one-sample
tests - [lecture 6] inference for a difference in means between two populations: two-sample
tests - [lecture 7] inference for differences in means among many populations: ANOVA
- [lecture 8] post-hoc inference in ANOVA
- [HW2] due Thursday 7/3/25 11:59pm PDT
Week 3 (7/7/25)
Nonparametric methods; simple linear regression
- [reading] Vu and Harrington 6.1-6.5
- [lecture 9] nonparametric alternatives to
-tests and ANOVA - [lecture 10] least squares estimation for simple linear regression
- [lecture 11] inference in regression
- [lecture 12] model checking
- [HW3] due Thursday 7/10/25 11:59pm PDT
Week 4 (7/14/25)
- [reading] Vu and Harrington 8.1-8.4
- [lecture 13] inference for a single population proportion
- [lecture 14] goodness of fit tests
- [lecture 15] inference for a difference in proportions
- [lecture 16] tests of association in two-way tables
- [HW4] due Thursday 7/17/25 11:59pm PDT
Week 5 (7/21/25)
- [reading] Vu and Harrington 8.5
- [lecture 17] relative risk and odds ratios
- [lecture 18] special topics
- [final exam] in person Thursday 7/24/25 10:10am – 1:00pm in 38-122
Miscellany
Resources:
- [rendering instructions] for downloading a PDF copy of your notebook
- [troubleshooting steps] for resolving rendering issues
- [tutoring resources]