GLIM FOR ECOLOGISTS. - Disk included

Learning GLIM will almost certainly change the way you do statistics. The flexibility and generality of the GLIM language encourage a different approach to statistical analysis, which stresses parameter estimation and model criticism rather than hypothesis testing. The GLIM package can handle most of the models that ecologists are likely to fit to their data, including log-linear models of count data using Poisson errors, logistic regression of proportion data using binomial errors, and a wide variety of models for the analysis of survival data. It also allows an extremely general approach to more familiar procedures such as analysis of variance, multiple regression and the analysis of contingency tables. The book provides a practical approach to learning the rationale and methods of linear modelling, starting from absolute basics and progressing in simple steps to cover the critical analysis of experimental and observational data. Minimal background in mathematics or statistical theory is assumed, and the book is aimed at all ecologists front students to experienced researchers. Statistical modelling in GLIM is introduced through an extensive series of ecological examples, where graphical display, model criticism, model simplification, plots of residuals and tests of assumptions about error specification are explained in full. The reader is encouraged to work through examples while sitting at a computer, and all of the necessary data, along with numerous exercises and fully worked answers, are provided on a disk supplied at the back of the book. GLIM for Ecologists is not a statistical recipe book; it informs and educates on the proper use of statistics in ecology, on experimental design and on how to get the most out of your data. Learning GLIM Will certainly bc worth the effort. It's not a question of finding out how to do the same old tests in yet another new statistics package. On the contrary, it involves mastering a powerful set of tools that were originally developed for professional statisticians, but which are now accessible to ecologists through the simple step-by-step approach adopted in this book. The Methods in Ecology Series The aim of this series is to provide ecologists with concise and authoritative books that will guide them in choosing and applying an appropriate methodology to their problem. New technologies are a feature of the series.