Towards sound use of statistics in nematology

Abstract

Background: Inclusion of the statistical approach in the planning stage of adequate experimental design is crucial for correctly achieving the required conclusions. Modern applied statistics has been used extensively in nematological research worldwide. Although hypothesis testing is still essential to relevant research topics, more emphasis is directed towards other significant issues. Main body: Issues of estimating the magnitudes of differences among various treatments, conception of optimum sampling size, determining spatial and temporal distribution of nematode ecology, nematode-host suitability designation, prediction of crop yield loss caused by plant-parasitic nematodes and other effects were discussed. So, this study presents highlights of developments in nematological statistics. Moreover, modern statistics should address issues of other nematology-associated disciplines. For example, statistics applied to compare the reliability of molecularly examined samples showed that f)