Session 6.

Unit 6: Practical Biology and Research Skills

What is paper 6?

Choosing the right statistical test

Question 2 of paper 6

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

 Session 6.1

Unit 6: Practical Biology and Research Skills

What is paper 6?

Choosing the right statistical test

Question 2 of paper 6

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

 What is paper 6?

Paper 6 has 3 questions

Total 50 marks
20% of IAL A2 raw marks
10% of total IAL raw marks Revise AS practicals
Sessions 3.2-3.5 before Unit 6 exam
Question 1
Based on AS and A2 practical experiments
Total 11 to 13 marks
Sessions 6.2-6.5
Question 2
Statistical test applied to an experiment Session 6.1
Total 14 to 16 marks

Question 3
Setting up an experiment
Steps of doing, analysis and interpretation of data Session 6.6
Includes choice of statistical test
Total 22-24 marks

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

 Session 6.1

Unit 6: Practical Biology and Research Skills

What is paper 6?

Choosing the right statistical test

Question 2 of paper 6

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

 Choosing the right statistical test
Introduction on statistical terms Session 5.7

Mean, median, and mode are three kinds of "averages".

The "mean" is the "average" you're used to, where you add up all the numbers and
then divide by the number of numbers

The "median" is the "middle" value in the list of numbers. To find the median, your
numbers have to be listed in numerical order, so you may have to rewrite your list first.

The "mode" is the value that occurs most often. If no number is repeated, then there is
no mode for the list

The "range" is just the difference between the largest and smallest values

Find the mean, median, mode, and range for the following list of values:
13, 18, 13, 14, 13, 16, 14, 21, 13

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

 Choosing the right statistical test
Introduction on statistical terms Session 5.7
Find the mean, median, mode, and range for the following list of values:
13, 18, 13, 14, 13, 16, 14, 21, 13

The mean is the usual average, so:

(13 + 18 + 13 + 14 + 13 + 16 + 14 + 21 + 13) 9 = 15
Note that the mean isn't a value from the original list. This is a common mistake.
You should not assume that your mean will be one of your original numbers.

The median is the middle value, so I'll have to rewrite the list in order:
13, 13, 13, 13, 14, 14, 16, 18, 21
There are nine numbers in the list, so the middle one will be the (9 + 1) 2 = 10 2 = 5th number:
So the median is 14.

The mode is the number that is repeated more often than any other, so 13 is the mode.

The largest value in the list is 21, and the smallest is 13, so the range is 21 13 = 8

mean: 15 median: 14 mode: 13 range: 8

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

Choosing the right statistical test

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

Choosing the right statistical test

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

Choosing the right statistical test

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

 Session 6.1

Unit 6: Practical Biology and Research Skills

What is paper 6?

Choosing the right statistical test

Question 2 of paper 6

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

 Question 2 of paper 6

Structure of a typical question 2 of Unit 6

Experiment is described
Independent and dependent variables are given implicitely
Raw data are provided

Questions
a) Propose a null hypothesis 2 marks
b) Calculate the means from the raw data provided 2/3 marks
c) (Identify anomalies and justify your choices 2 marks)
d) Prepare a suitable table from raw data + calculated means 3 marks
e) Make a graph 3 marks
f) Draw a conclusion from statistical test and graph 4 marks
g) Suggest why reliability/validity are not acceptable 3 marks

Example #1 Example #2 Example #3

Three examples May 2013 January 2014 January 2011

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

 Question 2 of paper 6

Structure of a typical question 2 of Unit 6

Experiment is described
Independent and dependent variables are given implicitely
Raw data are provided

Questions
a) Propose a null hypothesis 2 marks
b) Calculate the means from the raw data provided 2/3 marks
c) (Identify anomalies and justify your choices 2 marks)
d) Prepare a suitable table from raw data + calculated means 3 marks
e) Make a graph 3 marks
f) Draw a conclusion from statistical test and graph 4 marks
g) Suggest why reliability/validity are not acceptable 3 marks

Example #1 Example #2 Example #3

Three examples May 2013 January 2014 January 2011

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

 Question 2 of paper 6 Example #1
May 2013
Structure of a typical question 2 of Unit 6

Experiment is described
Independent and dependent variables are given implicitely
Raw data are provided

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

 Question 2 of paper 6 Example #1
May 2013
Structure of a typical question 2 of Unit 6

Experiment is described
Independent and dependent variables are given implicitely
Raw data are provided

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

 Question 2 of paper 6 Example #1
May 2013
a) Propose a null hypothesis 2 marks

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

 Question 2 of paper 6 Example #1
May 2013
b) Calculate the means from the raw data provided 2/3 marks

Not asked in this precise exam

The raw data are countings in quadrats

Often, the median data are used and compared,

rather than calculating means

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

 Question 2 of paper 6 Example #1
May 2013
c) (Identify anomalies and justify your choices 2 marks)

Not asked in this precise exam

The raw data are countings in quadrats

They will always vary a lot between quadrats

Hence the presence of anomalies each time

Rarely asked overall

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

 Question 2 of paper 6 Example #1
May 2013
d) Prepare a suitable table from raw data + calculated means 3 marks

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

 Question 2 of paper 6 Example #1
May 2013
e) Make a graph 3 marks

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

 Question 2 of paper 6 Example #1
May 2013
f) Draw a conclusion from statistical test and graph 4 marks

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

 Question 2 of paper 6 Example #1
May 2013
g) Suggest why reliability/validity are not acceptable 3 marks

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

 Question 2 of paper 6

Structure of a typical question 2 of Unit 6

Experiment is described
Independent and dependent variables are given implicitely
Raw data are provided

Questions
a) Propose a null hypothesis 2 marks
b) Calculate the means from the raw data provided 2/3 marks
c) (Identify anomalies and justify your choices 2 marks)
d) Prepare a suitable table from raw data + calculated means 3 marks
e) Make a graph from raw data 3 marks
f) Draw a conclusion from statistical test and graph 4 marks
g) Suggest why reliability/validity are not acceptable 3 marks

Example #1 Example #2 Example #3

Three examples May 2013 January 2014 January 2011

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

 Question 2 of paper 6 Example #2
January 2014
Structure of a typical question 2 of Unit 6

Experiment is described
Independent and dependent variables are given implicitely
Raw data are provided

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

 Question 2 of paper 6 Example #2
January 2014
Structure of a typical question 2 of Unit 6

Experiment is described
Independent and dependent variables are given implicitely
Raw data are provided

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

 Question 2 of paper 6 Example #2
January 2014
a) Propose a null hypothesis 2 marks

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

 Question 2 of paper 6 Example #2
January 2014
b) Calculate the means from the raw data provided 2/3 marks

d) Prepare a suitable table from raw data + calculated means 3 marks

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

 Question 2 of paper 6 Example #2
January 2014
c) (Identify anomalies and justify your choices 2 marks)

Not asked in this precise exam

Do you see any anomaly?

Rarely asked overall

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

 Question 2 of paper 6 Example #2
January 2014
e) Make a graph 3 marks

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

 Question 2 of paper 6 Example #2
January 2014
f) Draw a conclusion from statistical test and graph 4 marks

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

 Question 2 of paper 6 Example #2
January 2014
g) Suggest why reliability/validity are not acceptable 3 marks

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

 Question 2 of paper 6

Structure of a typical question 2 of Unit 6

Experiment is described
Independent and dependent variables are given implicitely
Raw data are provided

Questions
a) Propose a null hypothesis 2 marks
b) Calculate the means from the raw data provided 2/3 marks
c) (Identify anomalies and justify your choices 2 marks)
d) Prepare a suitable table from raw data + calculated means 3 marks
e) Make a graph 3 marks
f) Draw a conclusion from statistical test and graph 4 marks
g) Suggest why reliability/validity are not acceptable 3 marks

Example #1 Example #2 Example #3

Three examples May 2013 January 2014 January 2011

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

 Question 2 of paper 6 Example #3
January 2011
Structure of a typical question 2 of Unit 6

Experiment is described
Independent and dependent variables are given implicitely
Raw data are provided

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

 Question 2 of paper 6 Example #3
January 2011
Structure of a typical question 2 of Unit 6

Experiment is described
Independent and dependent variables are given implicitely
Raw data are provided

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

 Question 2 of paper 6 Example #3
January 2011
a) Propose a null hypothesis 2 marks

Quite different question than the usual null hypothesis

This is because we are not testing whether rennin CAN or CANNOT clot milk
Rather asking which rennin concentration is the optimum one to clot milk

This question is obviously about controlled variables

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

 Question 2 of paper 6 Example #3
January 2011
b) Calculate the means from the raw data provided 2/3 marks
d) Prepare a suitable table from raw data + calculated means 3 marks

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

 Question 2 of paper 6 Example #3
January 2011
e) Make a graph 3 marks

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

 Question 2 of paper 6 Example #3
January 2011
c) Identify anomalies and justify your choices 2 marks

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

 Question 2 of paper 6 Example #3
January 2011
f) Draw a conclusion from statistical test and graph 4 marks

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.

 Question 2 of paper 6 Example #3
January 2011
g) Suggest why reliability/validity are not acceptable 3 marks

A2 Edexcel Biology Xavier DANIEL, Ph.D.