title: Descriptive statistics of data: understanding the data set and phenotypes of interest.
abstract: A good understanding of the design of an experiment and the observational data that have been collected as part of the experiment is a key pre-requisite for correct and meaningful preparation of field data for further analysis. In this chapter, I provide a guideline of how an understanding of the field data can be gained, preparation steps that arise as a consequence of the experimental or data structure, and how to fit a linear model to extract data for further analysis.
authors.affiliation: CSIRO Animal, Health and Food Sciences, Armidale, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Sonja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dominik
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001699:Biometry; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006374:Helminthiasis, Animal / Q000235:genetics* / Q000469:parasitology; D006376:Helminths / Q000254:growth & development; D016014:Linear Models; D010270:Parasite Egg Count; D010641:Phenotype; D012107:Research Design; D012756:Sheep; D012757:Sheep Diseases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000469:parasitology; D034561:Sheep, Domestic / Q000235:genetics* / Q000469:parasitology