Statistics

by Robert S. Witte, John S. Witte

This Seventh Edition explains in plain English the basic concepts and procedures of statistical analysis and makes a special effort to clarify such topics as the standard deviation, variance interpretation of the correlation coefficient, hypothesis tests, degrees of freedom, p-values, and estimates of effect size.
* Highly interesting and engaging exercises include how standard scores might explain the disappearance of .400 hitters in Major League Baseball, probability calculations that recreate the chillingly high likelihood of the space shuttle Challenger disaster, and a chi-square test of the survival rates of cabin and steerage passengers aboard the Titanic.
* Avoids unnecessary math, computational busy work, and subtle technical distinctions, without sacrificing either accuracy or realism.
* Each chapter begins with an overview and ends with a summary, a list of important terms, and numerous exercises.

Genres: Nonfiction, Mathematics

640 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1989

Reviews

[Caley Brennan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marvellous! Lays out the philosophy and equations of basic statistics in a way that’s easy to understand and is an excellent book for anyone wanting a refresher on the subject.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only thing about statistics I had remembered from college was that a bell curve exists. Going through this text, it had an emphasis on understanding statistics presented to you. Statistics has serious limitations and the emphasis was on knowing what results mean instead of being math intensive and having you solve a bunch of tests. The examples used are often used again from another standpoint to show important experimental design is. This is a problem rampant in current science where even the tests chosen are often based on what fits experimental results instead of the other way around. Read cover to cover and I enjoyed it.