In the following three documents, I show exceptional growth in my ability to analyze data quantitively. In the first project, from Integrative Biology, I tested the growth of plants based on water supply and interpreted the data after graphing it in Microsoft Excel. This analysis did not include statistical analysis but included the application of standard error, calculated from three trials conducted, in the analysis process to draw conclusions about the data.  In the next document, I analyzed the demographics of Farmville, VA through data collection and statistical analysis, utilizing R software. After data was collected, interpretations about this data were concluded using R database to perform the statistical tests, such as t-test and ANOVA. In the final document, I combine the knowledge that I learned in my foundation classes to analyze the cellular changes that murine ovarian tumor cells experienced after exposure to NSAIDs with statistical testing. After graphing the data from this experiment, I was able to statistically analyze the differences within Microsoft Excel.

Being able to quantitatively measure my conclusions from experiments is very necessary and useful in the field of research, to draw accurate and precise conclusions from the data. I am very interested in statistics and mathematics, in general, and I really appreciate that the two fields coincide so well, in an important manner. Other than learning how to apply my knowledge of statistics and mathematics to the field, I learned how to complete these tasks with the aid of computer software, such as R database and Microsoft Excel.

Although my knowledge of quantitative analysis has significantly improved as I progressed to higher-level courses, I do not think I am proficient in my ability to use R database to its full potential. I have also taken an Introduction to Algorithmic Design course, which did help in my understanding of the R database, but is still a difficult concept for me to succeed in. However, I am confident in my ability to utilize Microsoft Excel to graph many different types of data and analyze them within the software.