Awesome! You started with a hypothesis. You used image analysis to collect data. You analyzed your data with linear regression. The only task left is to draw some inferences and describe what you've learned. [NOTE: Again, some instructors may choose different post-lab assignments, so be sure to pay attention to what YOUR instructor assigns!]
Each person should INDEPENDENTLY complete the regression practice sheets, and turn those in. Then, in small groups (~4 people) you should write a short lab report:
1. Describe your hypothesis, and your rationale (why, biologically, did you have that hypothesis?).
2. Describe your results in words, focusing on the biology, using graphs and the regression analysis to provide support for your inferences.
- Ideally your sentences should be biology-focused: "Larger ants, as measured by total length, carried larger leaves than did smaller workers (linear regression, p<0.001, R^2=0.56; Figure 1)." Describing the direction or strength of a relationship is better than just saying "there was a relationship". Moreover, referencing a figure showing the data is always more informative than just describing it with words.
- Ideally, again, your sentences should NOT BE statistics-focused, like this one is: "There was a significant linear regression between ant size and leaf area (p<0.001, R^2=0.56; Figure 1)." Notice this sentence doesn't even tell us if bigger ants carried bigger leaves!
3. Draw a brief conclusion. How does your data compare with what you expected? Delve into your hypothesis and your results, explaining what you think is really happening in nature. Super extra bonus points for using information from other published articles (from the bibliography here or from your own literature search) to better understand your results.
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