This book is for biologists and other system analysts struggling with big-data statistics.

The approach of the authors, having instructed students and consulted colleagues for two decades, is not to explain statistics anew. Rather, we aim to put forward a praxis oriented method to stepwise apply statistics according to research questions asked, to provide a guideline for efficient data evaluation and the decisions to make in the process - especially in dimensional reduction (ordination). Thus these sections are the most extensive.

A flexible general approach for efficient data mining, quantifying, visualising and pre-modelling based on a sound strategy, learned by experience shall be presented. Also, a critical consideration of social phenomena and traditions in statistics application and a listing of methods and tests that are felt to be missing is attempted. As the author’s background is ecological, many examples will be from systems ecology and biochemistry.