'Ag' Normal: USU Statistician Co-Authors New Book for Mixed Models
For scientists involved in statistical analysis, it’s all about distribution. And the normal distribution, with its symmetrical bell curve, is not a global truth, says Utah State University statistician Susan Durham.
“Data from research — especially agricultural and natural resources research — is not always normally distributed,” says Durham, a statistical consultant in the USU Ecology Center. “Software to help researchers analyze these kinds of data, particularly in complex designs, has only been around for a few years.”
Durham is among a multi-state group of authors who recently published a guide to help researchers navigate modern statistical methods pertaining to the design and analysis of mixed models for non-normally distributed data. “Analysis of Generalized Linear Mixed Models in the Agricultural and Natural Resources Sciences,” by Edward Gbur, Walter Stroup, Kevin McCarter, Durham, Linda Young, Mary Christman, Mark West and Matthew Kramer, provides researchers using SAS® statistical software with practical examples for field trial applications.
“The theory of these generalized linear mixed models is still ahead of our understanding of how to actually do the modeling, so preparing this book was a fabulous learning experience for all of us,” Durham says. “What’s unique about the book is it takes a very practical approach to help researchers apply these statistical methodologies to their data.”
Researchers involved in such areas as natural resources, ecological, biological and agricultural science research, especially those using field trials, will benefit from the book, she says.
Published by the American Society of Agronomy, the Soil Science Society of America and the Crop Science Society of America, the book is the culmination of a five-year project funded by the Multi-state Project NCCC-170 “Research Advances in Agricultural Statistics” under the auspices of the North Central Region Agricultural Experiment Station Directors. Durham’s participation in the project was facilitated by travel funds from the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station.
To read an excerpt from the book, visit the American Society of Agronomy website.
Related links:
Utah Agricultural Experiment Station
Contact: Susan Durham, 435-797-1337, susan.durham@usu.edu
Writer: Mary-Ann Muffoletto, 435-797-3517, maryann.muffoletto@usu.edu
Susan Durham, a statistical consultant with the USU Ecology Center, has co-authored a new book that offers guidance to scientists involved in agricultural, natural resources, ecological and biological research.
Durham and team's book demonstrates, through examples, the design and analysis of mixed models for non-normally distributed data and challenges traditional statistical methodology.
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