Use and interpretation of statistics in wildlife journals

Use and interpretation of statistics in wildlife journals are reviewed, and suggestions for improvement are offered. Populations from which inferences are to be drawn should be clearly defined, and conclusions should be limited to the range of the data analyzed. Authors should be careful to avoid improper methods of plotting data and should clearly define the use of estimates of variance, standard deviation, standard error, or confidence intervals. Biological and statistical significant are often confused by authors and readers. Statistical hypothesis testing is a tool, and not every question should be answered by hypothesis testing. Meeting assumptions of hypothesis tests is the responsibility of authors, and assumptions should be reviewed before a test is employed. The use of statistical tools should be considered carefully both before and after gathering data.