Snakes, Fortunes, and Statistical Models

<p>This chapter explores how statistics reveal patterns, support prediction, and explain biological relationships through examples centred on snakes and snakebite research. It introduces correlation, including Pearson’s and Spearman’s correlation coefficients, and demonstrates how linear models and regression quantify associations, enable prediction, and support conservation studies while emphasising that correlation does not establish causation. The chapter then explains analysis of variance (ANOVA), showing how F-statistics, post hoc tests, and effect sizes identify meaningful differences among multiple groups, and demonstrates both manual calculations and computer-based analyses using JASP. It extends these ideas through ANCOVA, model simplification, and multivariate approaches, including MANOVA, MANCOVA, and Permanova, to examine complex interactions among variables and support evidence-based decision-making. Finally, the chapter examines how advanced statistical modelling underpins machine learning and artificial intelligence, enabling increasingly sophisticated solutions across the biosciences and beyond.</p>