Application of statistics in plant and crop research: important issues

Abstract

Proper application of experimental statistics is very important issue in plant and crop research. Results of the surveys of research papers published in agricultural and biological journals show that very often statistics is used or interpreted incorrectly by authors. Researchers usually do not pay enough attention to correct statistics application in all stages of the investigation. The aim of this paper is to stress the main points on widely used statistical methods in plant and crop research. The paper includes topics on research design and statistical analyses, basic assumptions and transformations, ANOVA application, regression and correlation analyses, presentation of research results. Suggestions on proper usage of statistical methods in all stages of crop research are provided. This paper does not cover statistical methods which are beyond traditional ANOVA and regression and more advanced computer packages are needed to perform them.