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RMC811S-RESEARCH METHODS FOR NATURAL SCIENCES-2ND OPP JULY 2024 |
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QUALIFICATION: BACHELOR OF NATURAL RESOURCESMANAGEMENT HONOURS
QUALIFICATION CODE: 08BNRH
COURSE CODE: RMC811S
LEVEL: 8
COURSE NAME: RESEARCHMETHODS FOR NATURAL
SCIENCES
DATE: JULY 2024
DURATION: 3 HOURS
MARKS: 150
SECOND OPPORTUNITY /SUPPLEMENTARY EXAMINATION QUESTION PAPER
EXAMINER(S) Dr Tendai Nzuma (Section A: Scientific Writing)
Dr Meed Mbidzo (Section B: Statistics)
MODERATOR: Prof M. Mwale
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Answer ALL the questions.
2. Write clearly and neatly.
3. Number the answers clearly.
PERMISSIBLEMATERIALS
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LJ, Cl IUl~Ult::
E. Mendeley
F. Direct Plagiarism
G. Chicago
H.APA
I. MLA
J. Accidental Plagiarism
Descriptions:
1. A citation style that uses author-date in-text citations.
2. Using text from another source without altering and not citing it.
3. A reference management tool designed for internet browser integration.
4. Mixing copied material from multiple sources without citing.
5. Reusing one's previous work without citation or acknowledgment.
6. A citation style primarily used in humanities.
7. A reference management tool that supports a wide range of citation styles.
8. A citation style used widely in history and arts.
9. Rephrasing another's ideas too closely to the original, with insufficient citation.
10. Unintentionally failing to cite sources correctly.
QUESTION 3
Discussthe implications of the research findings on "The Impact of Urbanization on Local [12]
Bird Populations" for urban planning and biodiversity conservation. Include an analysis of
methodological strengths and potential biases in the research.
QUESTION 4
Discuss comprehensive strategies that could be employed by universities to minimize
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[20]
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d) A biologist is comparing bird species diversity in urban and rural areas. The data
(3)
collected are ordinal, ranking areas by the number of species observed from lowest to
highest. What is the appropriate test for comparing bird species diversity between
urban and rural areas; and why is this test appropriate?
QUESTION 6
An ornithologist claims that the average wing length of an adult eagle is 200cm. Wing
[13]
lengths of 20 adult eagles were measured and recorded. Use the dataset "eagle" to
determine whether wing length values from the sample is different from the population
mean. Use the SPSSoutput provided to answer the questions that follow.
a) What statistical test would you use to investigate whether wing length values from
(1)
the sample is different from the population mean?
b) State the null and alternative hypotheses for this investigation.
(2)
c) Is the assumption of normality met or violated? Explain and provide evidence for your (2)
answer.
d) State whether the assumption of outliers is met or not (Explain and provide evidence (2)
for your answer.
e) Report on the descriptive statistics of the eagle wing lengths.
(3)
f) Determine whether wing length values from the sample are different from the
(3)
population mean?
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1!0.00
,~nglenglohfeagle
Wing length of eagle
Kolmogorov-Smirnov•
Statistic
df
Sig.
.116
20
.200·
Shapiro-Wilk
Statistic
df
.971
20
Sig.
.781
Wing length of eagle
N
20
Mean
184.2000
Std. Deviation
13.49698
Std. Error Mean
3.01802
Wing length of
eagle
t
-5.235
Test Value= 200
Significance
One-Sided Two-Sided
df
p
p
19
<.001
<.001
Mean
Difference
-15.80000
95% Confidence Interval of
the Difference
Lower
-22.1168
Upper
-9.4832
QUESTION 7
Samples of tilapia are collected from two lakes (Lyambezi and Oshikoto) and the length of (15)
each fish is measured in mm. Use the SPSSoutputs provided to answer the questions that
follow.
a) What statistical test would you use to determine whether the fish length differed
(2)
between the two lakes?
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Lyombezi
Name of lake
Oshil-.oto
Fish length in mm
Name of
lake
Kolmogorov-
Smirnova
Statistic
df
Sig.
Lyambezi
0.189
8 .200
Oshikoto
0.17
10 .200
Shapiro-
Wilk
Statistic df
Sig.
0.907
8 0.333
0.949
10 0.662
Group Statistics
Name of lake
N
Mean
Std.
Deviation
Fish length Lyambezi 8
223.7500 51.72938
in mm
Oshikoto 10
197.8000 24.62970
Std. Error
Mean
18.28910
7.78860
I Fish Equal
Levene's Test
for Equality of
Variances
t-test for Equality of Means
95% Confidence
Sig.
Interval of the
F
4.840
Sig.
t
0.043 1.407
(2-
Mean
Std. Error
Difference
I df tailed) Difference Difference Lower Upper
I 16 0.179 25.95000 18.44417 -13.149 65.049
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oetween groups. t-ully explain your answer.
d) Determine which vegetation layers are statistically different from each other in terms (5)
offly abundance.
Hypothesis Test Summary
Null Hypothesis
Test
Sig.
Decision
1
The distribution of Number of flies Independent-Samples
.013 Reject the null
/m3 of foliage is the same across Kruskal-Wallis Test
hypothesis.
categories of Vegetation layer.
14.00
a,
12.00
-~
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i.ia"=., '..
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8.00
a,
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zE::,
6.00
4.00
0
herbs
shrubs
Vegetation layer
trees
Test Statistics
J Number of flies /m3 of foliage
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trees-herbs
shrubs-herbs
7.600
6.800
2.828
2.828
2.687
.007
.022
2.404
.016
.049
QUESTION 9
A total of forty seedlings were planted, twelve on each of a building's four sides. The
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heights of each seedling after a few weeks of growth were taken in cm. Use the SPSS
outputs provided to answer the questions that follow.
a) What procedure or statistical test would you perform to test the research hypothesis (2)
stated above?
b) explain whether the two main data assumption of the statistical test mentioned in (a) (6)
have been met.
c) Interpret the descriptive statistics table provided in the table below:
(4)
d) Explain whether seedling heights statistically differ with the side of building where the (4)
seedlings are grown.
Height of seedling in
cm
Side of
building
north
east
south
west
Kolmogorov-Smirnov
Shapiro-Wilk
Statistic df Sig. Statistic df
Sig.
.183 12 .200·
.954
12
.693
.190 12 .200·
.919
12
.281
.228 12 .085
.934
12
.420
.161 12 .200·
.899
12
.153
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Side or bulldlng
Height of seedling in cm
north
east
south
west
Total
N Mean
12 7.8333
12 7.5417
12 8.4750
12 7.8167
48 7.9167
Std.
Deviation
.52628
.52477
.48453
.51231
.70871
Descriptives
Std. Error
.15192
.15149
.13987
.14367
.10229
95% Confidence Interval for
Mean
Lower
Bound
Upper Bound
7.4990
8.1677
7.2082
7.8751
8.1671
8.7829
7.2319
8.4014
7.7109
8.1225
Minimum Maximum
7.10
8.80
6.90
8.50
7.80
9.40
6.40
8.90
6.40
9.40
QUESTION 10
A marine biologist collected shrimp and counted the number of eggs each female was
[30]
carrying; then freeze-dried and weighed the mothers. Use the SPSSoutputs provided to
answer the questions that follow.
a) What procedure or statistical test would you perform to test the research hypothesis (2)
stated above?
b) Describe the general relationship that exists between number of eggs produced and (3)
female shrimp weight. Provide evidence for your answer.
c) Did the data meet the assumption of homoscedasticity? Explain your answer.
(3)
d) Did the data meet the assumption of normality? Explain your answer.
(3)
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5.00
6.00
700
800
Weight of female shrimp
9.00
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Model Summaryb
Adjusted R Std. Error of the
Model
R
R Square
Square
Estimate
1
.453a
.206
.175
3.73633
a. Predictors: (Constant), Weight of female shrimp
b. Dependent Variable: Number of eggs
Scatterplot
Dependent Variable: Number of eggs
Durbin-Watson
1.882
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
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0
0
0
0
0
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0
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Regression Standardized Predicted Value
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Observed Cum Prob
Model Summaryb
Adjusted R Std. Error of the
Model
R
R Square
Square
Estimate
1
.453•
.206
.175
3.73633
a. Predictors: (Constant), Weight of female shrimp
b. Dependent Variable: Number of eggs
Durbin-Watson
1.882
Model
1
Regression
Residual
Total
Sum of Squares
93.893
362.964
456.857
ANOVA"
df
1
26
27
Mean Square
93.893
13.960
F
6.726
Sig.
.0lSb
Coefficients•
Unstandardized Coefficients
Model
B
Std. Error
1
(Constant)
12.689
4.201
Weight of female shrimp
1.602
.618
a. Dependent Variable: Number of eggs
Standardized
Coefficients
Beta
.453
t
3.021
2.593
Sig.
.006
.015