• The only undergraduate text devoted to experimental design for the life sciences, making this essential aspect of biosciences education truly accessible to the student.
• Broad range of examples, drawn from the literature and from the authors' own extensive experience, demonstrate the practical relevance of experimental design to the widest possible range of biosciences students.
• Extensive learning tools throughout the book make it a totally flexible resource, ideal for self-study, to support lectures, or as a refresher to key concepts during research project work.
• Online Resource Centre contains resources for both the lecturer and student, making the book even more effective as both a teaching and learning tool.

New to this edition

• New 'statistics' boxes strengthen the link between experimental design and statistics, helping students to fully understand how the two issues inter-relate.
• New self-check questions throughout chapters, with answers at the end of the book, encourage students to check their understanding as they proceed through the book, to help make learning as effective as possible.
• New take-home messages highlight key concepts throughout chapters, to focus the students' attention on the principles that they really must grasp.
• Expanded range of illustrations present even more concepts in a visual way, to increase comprehension of the text.
• Discussion of ethical issues flagged in the margin, to raise awareness of this important aspect of experimental design.

Readership: Undergraduate students in the life sciences taking courses in experimental design, data analysis, quantitative methods, or scientific methodology. The book will also appeal to more experienced scientists who need a succinct reference guide to experimental design.

Graeme D. Ruxton, Reader in Behavioural and Physiological Ecology, University of Glasgow, and Nick Colegrave, Lecturer in Invertebrate Biology, University of Edinburgh

"At last a text which clearly and comprehensively takes the student through the mechanisms of sound practice and the pitfalls of less sound experimental design in the biological sciences. Although aimed directly at the undergraduate life sciences student it would also be useful to those studying both above and below this level." - Journal of Biological Education, Autumn 2006

"This is an excellent book for learning how to approach the design of experimental and, indeed, observational work. It avoids the usual inclusion of statistical detail that turns many students off while retaining all the key issues that are necessary for planning studies that produce good science. I commend this book to all those who struggle to get students to think seriously about designing good scientific studies." - Higher Education Academy, Bioscience e-Journal, June 2006.

Preface - How to use this book
1: Why care about design?
2: Starting with a well defined question
3: Between-individual variation, replication and sampling
4: Different experimental designs
5: Taking measurements
6: Final thoughts
Bibliography