Report 2

Group Data Submission

This assessment involves a group data submission in addition to the individual report.

  • Submit one Excel file containing your group’s:
    • Species (assemblage) data
    • Habitat data
  • Only one group member needs to upload the file on behalf of the group.
  • Due: By 10:00am on the day of your Week 11 practical session
  • Worth: 5% of your total unit mark

Make sure the file is clearly organised, with each dataset on a separate worksheet or in separate files, and correctly formatted for analysis in PRIMER or Jamovi.

Individual Report

Instructions for this assessment are in Week 9 Practical. Please read the instructions carefully.

Below is a brief summary of the requirements. You must still read the full instructions above in full.

  1. This is an individual report based on your group’s multivariate study, focusing primarily on the Methods and Results sections.
  2. The report must follow the format of a short scientific article suitable for submission to Austral Ecology, including sections such as Title, Abstract (if applicable), Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion (brief), and References.
  3. Submit your report anonymously via Canvas by 11:59pm at the end of Week 13, using an appropriate filename.
  4. Page limit: maximum 4 single-spaced pages (not including cover sheet, title/abstract page, references, tables, or figures).
  5. Include a brief Introduction with clearly stated hypotheses, a detailed Methods section describing data collection and analyses, and a well-presented Results section with tables, figures, and descriptions.
  6. Emphasis is on clear explanation of analytical methods, accurate description of data, and concise presentation of results.
  7. Write the entire report in your own words; include a statement about whether and how you used AI (or state that you did not use AI).
  8. Follow academic integrity guidelines: avoid plagiarism, and be prepared for plagiarism checking.
  9. Use the marking rubric as a checklist to ensure all criteria are met before submission.
  10. Consult the provided references and resources for guidance on analyses and reporting.

Marking scheme

Introduction (use your imagination) – 10 marks

  • Aims of the experiment and hypotheses being tested
  • Why is the study important and/or interesting
  • Study system – species, location of experiment (brief)
  • Welcome to use imagination with references and background, but will not be penalised if you are unable to provide real examples.

Materials and Methods – 30 marks

  • Set-up of experiment/survey
  • Data / variables recorded and how
  • Sampling design and justifications for analyses
  • Statistical analyses used, including which are dependent/independent variable(s) (if applicable), unit of replication, actual test(s) and statistical package(s)

Results – 40 marks

  • Statement of results (data and stats). Refer to tables and figures as needed.
  • Summary presentation of data (no raw data) as tables, figures or in text as appropriate. Use tables for large amounts of data where detail is important, use figures to illustrate patterns. Indicate sample size and errors, and note whether the latter are standard errors or standard deviations. Format consistently.
  • Evidence of thought in choices of analyses.
  • Results of statistical analyses presented either in text, on figures, or in tables.
  • Do not screenshot figures of tables

Discussion – 10 marks

  • Main conclusions or findings
  • Interpretation of results – what do they mean? How do they relate to original aims?
  • Limitations of approach or methods
  • Future studies – what would you do next to improve what you did and/or extend the understanding of the subject?

General

  • Brief Abstract at start of report
  • Written in plain English
  • Presentation (format/length)
  • No screenshotting of figures and tables
  • References if used and cited correctly

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