Advanced Methods in Evolutionary Anthropology (ANTH0115)

Module description:

 

Module Content

Most research in biological anthropology employs advanced statistical methods. This module seeks to equip students with the knowledge required to understand and evaluate the statistical inferences made by others and with the skills required to use some these methods in their own research. In particular, this module teaches students a set of advanced statistical methods that are commonly used in quantitative anthropological research including mixed effect models, principal component analysis and simple phylogenetic analyses. This module will further develop skills in using the computing software R.



Indicative Topics:

The module will cover the following topics, which may be subject to variation depending on developments in academic research and the interests of the class:

Principal component analysis
 Multiple regression
 Logistic regression
 Generalised linear mixed models
 Phylogenetic analysis
Learning Outcomes

Having completed the module, students will be able to:

use multivariate statistical methods such as principal component analysis
 have a high level of proficiency in the R statistical software
 be able to create complex linear regression models including a combination of interactions, continuous and categorical predictors.
 understand the conceptual basis of advanced statistical methods including logistic regression and mixed-effect modelling;
 be able to write custom scripts to use statistical methods such as bootstrapping and permutation tests
 understand the conceptual basis of Bayesian statistics and phylogenetic methods
Module delivery

One 3 hour class per week

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