Symposium

1. A meeting or conference for discussion of a topic, especially one in which the

participants form an audience and make presentations.
2. A collection of writings on a particular topic, as in a magazine.
3. A convivial meeting for drinking, music, and intellectual discussion among the ancient
Greeks

Seminar

1.
a. A small group of advanced students in a college or graduate school engaged in
original research or intensive study under the guidance of a professor who meets
regularly with them to discuss their reports and findings.
b. A course of study so pursued.
c. A scheduled meeting of such a group.
2. A meeting for an exchange of ideas; a conference.

Forum

A forum suggests some sort of discussion / talking point / learning from other people in the same
field.

Conference

Conference covers a multitude of types and fields.

Workshop

A workshop would usually be a relatively small / intimate event with some sense of involvement
by all in creating something particular such as a new policy or a solution to an issue
Agricultural Experimentation

Introduction
Procedure for Agricultural Experimentation
Some Basic Terms
Test of Significance
Analysis of Variance

Introduction Objective: This lesson is to help you to understand a few principles in statistical
procedures and the fundamentals of experimental designs.

Procedure for Agricultural Experimentation

In agriculture research a scientist identifies solutions to problems through experimentation.
Research can be broadly defined as a systematic inquiry into a subject to discover new facts or
principles.

Research involves the following steps:

• Formation of a hypothesis - a tentative explanation or solution.

• Planning an experiment to objectively test the hypothesis.
• Careful observation and collection of data from the experiment.
• Interpretation of the experimental results.

The procedure for experimentation involves:

• Defining the problem

• Stating the objectives
• Selection of treatments, experimental material, and experimental design
• Deciding number of replications
• Consideration of data to be collected
• Outlining statistical analysis needed
• Conducting the experiment
• Analyzing data and interpreting the results, and reporting research findings

The experiment is an important tool of research. Some important characteristics of a well-

planned experiment are:

• Simplicity,
 • High precision,
• Absence of systematic error,
• Range of validity of conclusions, and
• Calculation of degree of uncertainty.

Some Basic Terms

Variability is a characteristic of biological material. Hence we need to decide whether
differences between experimental units result from unaccounted variability or real treatment
effects.

Statistical science helps overcome this difficulty by requiring the collection of data in a way so
as to provide unbiased estimates of treatment effects and the valuation of treatment differences
by tests of significance based on measuring variability.
An experimental unit: It refers to the unit of material to which a treatment is applied. It can be
a single leaf, a whole plant, an area of ground containing many plants, a pot, or in the green
house. The term plot is synonymous with experimental unit. A treatment may be an amount of
material or a method that is to be tested and compared with other treatments in the experiment;
e.g., cultivar fertilizer doses, etc.
Variable: A measurable characteristic of an experimental unit is a variable; plant height, days to
flowering, panicle length, or grain yield etc.
Individual measurements of a variable are data; 150 cm plant height, 45 days to 50% flowering,
12 cm panicle length, or 3240 kg/ha of grain etc.
Data: A set of observations or measurements of a particular variable in an experiment; 105 cm,
95 cm, 120 cm, 75 cm, 100 cm, ...., represent data about the variable (plant height).

Population: In a statistical sense, a population is a set of measurements or counts of a single

variable on all the units in the specified population.

Sample: A sample is a set of measurements (observations) obtained from part of the specified
population.
For example: All 150 plants in a plot form the population. Ten plants used for recording the
plant height from this population form the sample. We obtain information from the sample.
Mean: Mean is the simple arithmetic average (of the sample or population).

Standard Deviation (SD): The measure of dispersion of the data around their mean is the
Standard Deviation. SD tells us how scattered the sample observations are around the mean.
Variance: Square of the Standard Deviation.

Standard Error (SE): The SD of the population of means is its standard error. SE tells us how
scattered the treatment means (for example) will be.
Degrees of freedom (df): Represents the freedom with which the variability in a data set could
be accounted for. Usually, but not necessarily, df is one less than the number of observations (n-
1).
For example, with 24 observations on plant height, the degree of freedom to account for the
variability in plant height is 23 (24 observations - 1).

Probability level: We use a probability level to tell us whether an observed result is likely to
have happened by mere chance.
For example, a probability of 5% (0.05) tells us that a particular result observed may not happen
in 5 trials out of 100 trials purely by chance. In other words, the result would normally be true in
95 cases out of 100 trials.
In agricultural experimentation, it is customary to describe the results that would be expected by
chance 5% or less as SIGNIFICANT and those expected by 1% or less as HIGHLY
SIGNIFICANT. However it is up to the scientist to select the odds at which it is believed there
are real effects.

Distribution of data
Data on a variable may commonly follow one of the following distributions.

Binomial Distribution
This type of distribution is expected in data, which describes the proportion of occurrences in
which each occurrence can only be one of two possible outcomes. For example in data
representing percent survival of insects, one can expect either dead or live insects.
Poisson distribution
This is a distribution, which represents occurrences of rare events. For example, count data such
as the number of infested plants, the number of lesions per leaf, or number of weeds per unit
area.
Normal Distribution
These data represent a continuous distribution. Most biological data, when plotted in a frequency
curve, represent a bell shaped and symmetrical curve. Such data are said to be normally
distributed. For example, grain yield, plant height, etc.

Test of Significance:
Variability is a characteristic feature of nature. Two plants growing side by side are not alike
even under similar conditions. We also know that data on plant growth characters reveal this
variability. For example, from data on five samples plant height such as 115 cm, 95 cm, 82 cm,
108 cm, and 72 cm, ....., can we say the growth was good (115 cm plant height) or the growth
was poor (72 cm plant height)? What is the truth?
A statistical procedure to estimate the probability of a result happening by chance is called a test
of significance.
't' test, 'F' test, and Chi-square test are commonly used statistical procedures for testing
significance of observed results.
't' test of significance:
The single-sample 't' is a statistics computed from a sample, which expresses the difference
between the sample mean and a hypothetical population mean in standard error units.
Thus:
't' = (sample mean - population mean) / standard error
The theoretical 't' values for the degrees of freedom for different sample sizes at different
probability levels are provided in a 't' Table.
Comparing the calculated 't' value with that of the theoretical 't' value from the 't' table, one could
test the significance of the sample mean being different from the hypothetical population mean.
If the calculated 't' is > 't' table value, then the two mean values that are being tested are
significantly different.

If the calculated 't' is < 't' table value, then the two mean values that are being tested are not
significantly different from each other.
'F' test of significance:
The 'F' test is a ratio between two variances and is used to determine whether two independent
estimates of variance can be assumed to be estimates of the same variance.
In the analysis of variance, the 'F' test is used to test equality of means of two or more treatments;
that is, to answer the question, can it reasonably be assumed that the treatment means resulted
from populations with equal means?
Like the theoretical 't' values, theoretical 'F' ratios are also computed for different sample sizes at
a given probability level in the form of a 'F' Table.
Comparing a calculated 'F' ratio with that of the theoretical 'F' ratio from the 'F' Table, the
significance among a group of treatments could be tested.
If the 'F' calculated is > 'F' Table values, then the treatments are significantly different at that
probability level.
If the 'F' calculated is < 'F' Table value, then the treatments are not significantly different at that
probability level.

Analysis of Variance:
A partitioning of the total variability in the data arising from various sources is presented in the
form of a Table. This Table is called the Analysis of Variance Table and consists of:
Source of Degrees ofSum of squares Mean Sum of'F' ratio
variation freedom squares
The usage of an analysis of variance could be better understood if you review the lessons on
experimental designs.
We hope that this tutorial helped you to understand some of the basic principles in the statistical
procedures used in agricultural experimentation.
You may also refer to the following books:

• Statistical Procedures for Agricultural Research by Gomez K.A. and A.A.

Gomez.
• Statistical Methods for Agricultural Workers by Panse V.G and P.V. Sukhatme.