University of Zimbabwe

HGG1001
GEOGRAPHIC DATA AND ANALYSIS
BSC Geography Honours in Geographical Information Science and Earth
Observation (HGGIS) Level I
BSC Geography Honours in Environmental Science (HGGENV) Level I
BSC Geography Honours in Geographical Biogeosciences (HGGB) Level I
BSC Geography Honours in the Human Environment (HGGH) Level I

November /December 2013

2 hours

Answer THREE Questions

1. Using examples, explain the following:

a) Statistical hypothesis
b) Normality tests
c) Type I and Type II errors

[8 marks]
[8 marks]
[9 marks]

2. The type of geographic data determines the kind of statistical analyses one can
perform. Explain.
3. The following table shows results of an experiment conducted to test the effect of
fertilizer on the growth of two sets of bean plants. Group 1 received fertilizer
treatment and group 2 did not. The student-t test statistic for 8 degrees of freedom
at =0.05 is 1.860. Assuming that the data follows a normal distribution:
Table 1: Height of plants (cm) receiving different fertilizer treatments
Group

Plant 1

Plant 2

Plant 3

Plant 4

Plant 5

1 (Fertilized)

15.6

16.6

13.8

17.1

18.5

2 (Control)

12.5

15.3

14.6

13.2

11.7

a) State the appropriate Null and Alternative hypotheses for this experiment.
[5 marks]
b) Statistically determine the effect of fertilizer on plant growth. [15 marks]
c) Interpret your results.
[5 marks]

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4. The following table shows data on plant height and diameter collected from plants
at the University of Zimbabwe. Assuming that the data are not normally
distributed, test and interpret the relationship between plant diameter and plant
height.
Table 2.:Height (m) and diameter (cm) of plants measured at a study site
Diameter (x)

Height (y)

12.2

3.0

13.6

3.20

17.5

3.60

18.4

3.08

11.7

1.99

5. Using a calculated example, explain the applications of simple Linear Regression

in geographical research.

End of Question Paper

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