Chapter 1 Introduction

Welcome to a primer for biostatistics in R.

Mathematical! Adventure time! Well, the mathematical part is up to you, but this is an adventure. This set of learning materials is a guide developed to support you in better developing critical thinking using statistics. Critical thinking very generally is a mode of thinking that is self-directed and evidence based (Facionie 2017). Statistical thinking is thus an ideal opportunity and partner in honing literacy adventure skills in this domain. Enhancing clarity, accuracy, precision, relevance, depth, breadth, significance, logic and fairness - all key criteria of critical thinking - with data or evidence both quantitative and qualitative is a profound tool as a scientist and citizen. It should be fundamental to statistics. Hence, the primary goal of this set of materials is to engender statistical thinking that embodies these principles and explores these criteria using data.

The open and free resources associated with learning statistics is nearly infinite online particularly in R. The programming language R is a free, open source programming environment ideal for statistics. There are other similar alternatives, but here R is used to support and scaffold critical thinking and statistical literacy because a significant component of many biologists use R including ecologists (Lai et al. 2019). Importantly, it provides a simple and clear mechanism to document, annotate, tidy up, write down, and literally show your work - like in math class. This benefits you. You see your ideas written down and can explore logic, fairness, and all the criteria listed above. It also enables you to repeat, replicate, and share your work.

Course outline

If you are electing to engage with this learning opportunity formally, please see the official course outline for specific details.

There are two summative assessments.

  1. Write a book review for The new Statistics with R.
  2. Complete a take-home statistical test (with the dataset provided in chapter 6 herein).

Learning outcomes

  1. Build a tidy, logical data model for a graduate-level dataset.
  2. Develop a reproducible data and statistical workflow.
  3. Design and complete intermediate-level data visualizations appropriate for a graduate-level tidy dataset.
  4. Identify a range of suitable univariate or multivariate statistical approaches that can be applied to any dataset.
  5. Interpret statistical output to quantify statistical model performance.
  6. Complete fundamental exploratory data analysis on a representative dataset.
  7. Appreciate the strengths and limitations of open science, data science, and evidence-based collaboration models.

Steps

Read a book. The New Statistics with R. (Hector 2021).

Write a book review. Ten simple rules for writing statistical book reviews (Christopher J. Lortie 2019) suggests a critical thinking framework to adopt for this process.

Learn-by-doing here.

Do a hackathon.

Do a hackathon as a test and submit for grading & review.

Rationale

Some learn best by reading. Some learn best by doing. We can all benefit from both approaches to refining our critical thinking through statistics.

Two summative (i.e. graded outcomes) include the book review and the test.

Schedule

Slide decks are optional. The decks simply highlight some of the connections between the criteria for critical thinking and statistical heuristics.

week adventure slide deck
1 Tidy data in R and CH9 in textbook whyR
2 Literate statistical coding and Data science and CH11 in texbook wrangleR
3 Statistics for ecology and evolution I and CH7 in textbook contemporary viz
4 Statistics for ecology and evolution II and CH15 in textbook EDAR
5 Book review due and hackathon efficient stats
6 Test when to publish data & code

Instructions

Read the text at your own pace. At least hit the key chapters CH4, 10 & 11 to write the review and submit your insights by the fifth week of work (if you choose to do 1-2 tasks per week as suggested in the schedule). If you are taking BIOL5081, please see official course outline and submit all work to turnitin.com as PDF only (even for the R work - knit to pdf).

Each week, read, discuss if you elect to work synchronously, and try the challenge provided.

The final two weeks, that hackathon is a warm up to the test. Grab the dataset, apply your critical thinking skills, code and show your work, and capture code and outputs as PDF. The hackathon is a stepping stone, formative process for to check if you are ready to think on your feet, write code, and apply biostatistical thinking to a challenge. The test is the exact same approach but summative, i.e. you submit for review and grading to a peer or instructor like me.

Citation

Lortie, CJ (2021): A primer for biostatistics in R. figshare. Book. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.15048597.v3

Tidy data in R

Tidiness is next to naturalness. We are wired up to see patterns and organize. Put that tendency to good work in data and statistical critical thinking.

Learning outcomes

  1. Consider data structures such as long versus wide.
  2. Read in a dataset to the R environment.
  3. Do a t-test.

Critical thinking

Tidy data thinking was pioneered in the R world (Wickham 2014). This philosophy to first considering the basic format of your data is transformational and profound. It beautifully connects to logic. Better yet, it sets you up for easier stats and plots in many environments including R. There is an excellent chapter on this topic in the free, open text R for Data Science.

Adventure time

Very simple life data to explore some ideas about meditation, steps, resting heart rate and the importance of instrument variation. Data are here. Explore the t-test in R for this adventure. Is the number of steps or sleep different from 0? Do the means estimated from a watch versus simple Fitbit tracker vary for simple measures? Did 0 versus 12 mins of meditation per day influence a relevant measure?

Deeper dive: explore the var.equal or alternative argument. Test nonparametric analog to this test.

library(tidyverse)
simple_life <- read_csv(url("https://ndownloader.figshare.com/files/28920855"))
simple_life
## # A tibble: 9 × 7
##   simple_date steps_fitbit sleep_fitbit    hr steps_watch sleep_watch meditati…¹
##   <date>             <dbl>        <dbl> <dbl>       <dbl>       <dbl>      <dbl>
## 1 2021-06-02         20913          429    54       25197         314          0
## 2 2021-06-03          6904          447    53       13042         302          0
## 3 2021-06-04         19548          449    56       23285         413         12
## 4 2021-06-05         19311          423    56       25832         355         12
## 5 2021-06-06         26159          435    58       29533         385         12
## 6 2021-06-07         21618          358    56       27796         240          0
## 7 2021-06-08         20890          492    53       24360         434         12
## 8 2021-06-09         12008          541    53       14517         399         12
## 9 2021-06-10         18058          436    57       22392         403         12
## # … with abbreviated variable name ¹​meditation_mins

Reflection questions

  1. What can a t-test do? Can you imagine other functions for a t-test in the context of your work and life?
  2. What are the limitations of a t-test?
  3. Is the data structure wide, long, and how can you consider tidying this evidence? Are there variables that represent the same concept?