Introduction

The statistical methods described in this book have been developed to help in the quantitative study of variation and the analysis and interpretation of data from experiments that are subject to variation. In biology, the amount of variation and the relative importance of the different causes of variation are often of interest in themselves. In experiments, variation tends to obscure the effects of different treatments, making comparisons difficult. This in turn can lead to mistakes in interpreting the results of experiments and to mistaken judgments about the best treatments to recommend for commercial use.