Hi,

Recently I have conducted a microbiological experiment on carriage pattern of bacteria in a certain group of professional people over a week. It would be very helpful for me if somebody suggest which statistical analysis and graphical representation are appropriate for this type of experiment.

Study description: I have included 31 animal farm workers (from eight different farms). I collected samples twice everyday (morning and afternoon) from a Monday morning to the next Monday morning, which comprises 15 samples from each participants. In every sample, I quantified the number of bacteria presence per sample (two separate count for bacteria A and bacteria B). In addition, I have collected data from each participant on everyday working hours, age, sex, years working in the farm, use of face-mask, hand wash, and other related information.

Research question 1. What is the trend of carriage patterns of these two bacteria among the farm workers in relation to everyday working hours over the whole week?

Help need: How can I summarize and graphically represent the every day’s bacterial count in 31 participants including working hours. Any suggestion about heat map using R?

Research question 2. Is there any significant relation in the bacterial carriage pattern with age, sex, or other variables?

Help need: Which statistical analysis is appropriate for this type of data?

Here I have included a dummy set of data for your understanding. Missing samples are indicated by empty cells. Number of bacterial count at each time point is in 'Dummy sheet 1' and other example information are in 'Dummy sheet 2'.

Thank you in advance for your time and help.