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Elementary Statistics: Picturing the World
For courses in Introductory Statistics (algebra-based). Simplifies statistics through practice and real-world applications Elementary Picturing the World makes statistics approachable with stepped-out instruction, extensive real-life examples and exercises, and a design that fits content for each page to make the material more digestible. The text’s combination of theory, pedagogy, and design helps students understand concepts and use statistics to describe and think about the world.
The 7th Edition incorporates a thorough update of key features, examples, and exercises, as well as robust technology resources that include StatCrunch ® , a new Tech Tips feature, and an Integrated Review version of the MyLab Statistics course.
Also available with MyLab Statistics MyLab™ Statistics is the teaching and learning platform that empowers instructors to reach every student. By combining trusted author content with digital tools and a flexible platform, MyLab Statistics personalizes the learning experience and improves results for each student. With MyLab Statistics and StatCrunch, an integrated web-based statistical software program, students learn the skills they need to interact with data in the real world.
You are purchasing a standalone product; MyLab Statistics does not come packaged with this content. Students, if interested in purchasing this title with MyLab Statistics, ask your instructor to confirm the correct package ISBN and Course ID. Instructors, contact your Pearson representative for more information.
If you would like to purchase both the physical text and MyLab Statistics, search
0134684907 / 9780134684901 Elementary Picturing the World Plus MyLab Statistics - Access Card Package, 7 /e Package consists
The 7th Edition incorporates a thorough update of key features, examples, and exercises, as well as robust technology resources that include StatCrunch ® , a new Tech Tips feature, and an Integrated Review version of the MyLab Statistics course.
Also available with MyLab Statistics MyLab™ Statistics is the teaching and learning platform that empowers instructors to reach every student. By combining trusted author content with digital tools and a flexible platform, MyLab Statistics personalizes the learning experience and improves results for each student. With MyLab Statistics and StatCrunch, an integrated web-based statistical software program, students learn the skills they need to interact with data in the real world.
You are purchasing a standalone product; MyLab Statistics does not come packaged with this content. Students, if interested in purchasing this title with MyLab Statistics, ask your instructor to confirm the correct package ISBN and Course ID. Instructors, contact your Pearson representative for more information.
If you would like to purchase both the physical text and MyLab Statistics, search
0134684907 / 9780134684901 Elementary Picturing the World Plus MyLab Statistics - Access Card Package, 7 /e Package consists
704 pages, Hardcover
First published March 14, 2002
17 people are currently reading
205 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
June 1, 2012
Even for a textbook I thought this was bad. I haven't ever taken statistics before, and almost everything I know is stuff I've picked up either from studying trading, or from trying to figure out the meaning of scientific studies. I had hoped that a textbook would clear up some of the things I've always found confusing. No such luck.
I would have liked the book to explain the formulas, give some insight into how they were developed, and discuss why they were needed. Instead, the book typically presents a fairly complicated formula, without anything in the way of prior explanation. Sometimes it will present the formula before it even defines the terms that the formula contains, a practice that makes me want to shove needles into my eyes.
Then, the book will go straight into examples of how to use the formula. Most of the time, this means a few pages of examples where the only engagement by the reader is going to a table and looking up a number from rows and columns. Sometimes you go to Table 6 in Appendix B. Other times you go to Table 8. And that's about the depth of the insight you get. I really did not need to have extensive instruction in how to look something up in a stupid table. And frankly, the table look-up is pretty pointless nowadays, because anyone with access to a computer and the internet can probably do better than the tables here.
Then there are the ideas that I always found mystifying when reading statistics, like "degrees of freedom." There are many formulas presented here that contain an entry where you apply the appropriate degrees of freedom. But nowhere is there even a word about what a degree of freedom is, why it might be needed in a formula, or anything else to give a person an inkling of what is really going on with any formula involving a degree of freedom. (In my frustration I did some looking on google to get some idea. It involves n-dimensional vector spaces and constraints along some dimensions within that space. This is a pretty advanced mathematical idea, and I understand why the book doesn't go into any detail. But it wouldn't be too hard to at least mention the idea. It wouldn't be that hard even to explain what happens if you take an object in 3 dimensional space and limit it to motion on a flat plane. What you have done is removed one of the "degrees of freedom" of that object. There! Was that really so hard that it wouldn't even deserve a mention.
Then, even with ideas that are pretty simple, the book offers no explanation for how it gets to the formulas a person is to apply. For example, late in the book we get the Sign Test for a population median. Here's how the book presents it without any other explanation. Someone claims that X is the median for some population. Take a sample and assign + signs when the sample datum is greater than X and a - sign when its less than X. Count the number of + and - signs. If the sample size is 25 or less, then choose the lower count. If greater than 25, then calculate (x+.5) - .5n/(square root n/2). Then do a table lookup depending on the level of significance important to you, but you go to different tables depending on whether the sample size is less than or greater than 25 (without explaining why). Then you compare your sample calculation with the number from the table. The examples then walk you through the procedures of the algorithm. Even on its own, this method depends almost entirely on rote, and doesn't give any understanding about what's going on.
But in the case above, its even worse because it would be very simple to explain what's going on with the sign test. First, remind people of what a median is. It's the number in the population where half the population lies above the number and half lies below it. This means that if you take a random sample of one from the population, there's a 50/50 chance of him falling above or below the median. For any random sample, it's a coin toss. Thus, the derivation of the formula should be really simple. Thus, this problem can be reduced to a simple probability problem involving throwing a coin. If the results deviate too much from 50/50, that suggests that the stated median is probably incorrect. This book doesn't even attempt this, or any other, sort of explanation.
If anyone knows of a good book on probability and statistics, I would welcome the suggestion. This ain't it.
I would have liked the book to explain the formulas, give some insight into how they were developed, and discuss why they were needed. Instead, the book typically presents a fairly complicated formula, without anything in the way of prior explanation. Sometimes it will present the formula before it even defines the terms that the formula contains, a practice that makes me want to shove needles into my eyes.
Then, the book will go straight into examples of how to use the formula. Most of the time, this means a few pages of examples where the only engagement by the reader is going to a table and looking up a number from rows and columns. Sometimes you go to Table 6 in Appendix B. Other times you go to Table 8. And that's about the depth of the insight you get. I really did not need to have extensive instruction in how to look something up in a stupid table. And frankly, the table look-up is pretty pointless nowadays, because anyone with access to a computer and the internet can probably do better than the tables here.
Then there are the ideas that I always found mystifying when reading statistics, like "degrees of freedom." There are many formulas presented here that contain an entry where you apply the appropriate degrees of freedom. But nowhere is there even a word about what a degree of freedom is, why it might be needed in a formula, or anything else to give a person an inkling of what is really going on with any formula involving a degree of freedom. (In my frustration I did some looking on google to get some idea. It involves n-dimensional vector spaces and constraints along some dimensions within that space. This is a pretty advanced mathematical idea, and I understand why the book doesn't go into any detail. But it wouldn't be too hard to at least mention the idea. It wouldn't be that hard even to explain what happens if you take an object in 3 dimensional space and limit it to motion on a flat plane. What you have done is removed one of the "degrees of freedom" of that object. There! Was that really so hard that it wouldn't even deserve a mention.
Then, even with ideas that are pretty simple, the book offers no explanation for how it gets to the formulas a person is to apply. For example, late in the book we get the Sign Test for a population median. Here's how the book presents it without any other explanation. Someone claims that X is the median for some population. Take a sample and assign + signs when the sample datum is greater than X and a - sign when its less than X. Count the number of + and - signs. If the sample size is 25 or less, then choose the lower count. If greater than 25, then calculate (x+.5) - .5n/(square root n/2). Then do a table lookup depending on the level of significance important to you, but you go to different tables depending on whether the sample size is less than or greater than 25 (without explaining why). Then you compare your sample calculation with the number from the table. The examples then walk you through the procedures of the algorithm. Even on its own, this method depends almost entirely on rote, and doesn't give any understanding about what's going on.
But in the case above, its even worse because it would be very simple to explain what's going on with the sign test. First, remind people of what a median is. It's the number in the population where half the population lies above the number and half lies below it. This means that if you take a random sample of one from the population, there's a 50/50 chance of him falling above or below the median. For any random sample, it's a coin toss. Thus, the derivation of the formula should be really simple. Thus, this problem can be reduced to a simple probability problem involving throwing a coin. If the results deviate too much from 50/50, that suggests that the stated median is probably incorrect. This book doesn't even attempt this, or any other, sort of explanation.
If anyone knows of a good book on probability and statistics, I would welcome the suggestion. This ain't it.
February 20, 2019
The book is pricey, and then you also need to pay for MyStatLab to get the full effectiveness of the material from the book. That said, for what it attempts to be, I think it performs the job very effectively. I was able to get through a semester-long course in about 5 weeks simply by following closely and diligently the format of the book and the online tests and quizzes. That means I get about 3 months of my life back that I normally would have spent waiting for other students to complete the material. That's 3 months I can spend doing anything, even learning more math!
People giving the book bad reviews really need to consider that this book is not about statistical theory or about pure math and mathematical proof. If you want to study pure math, that is a wonderful and interesting subject in and of itself, but that is not the subject of this book. After a couple of introductory chapters on basis probability and set theory, this book guides you and teaches you how to do statistical inference. That means doing a *lot* of hypothesis testing. You are going to see and experience so many different types of hypothesis tests that you are going to see them in your sleep. But that's ok, because that is the purpose of a textbook on statistical inference. This books introduces the tests, tells you the premise why the test is needed, explains what must be verified before a particular test can be applied, and then it gives you one or two examples, each followed by examples you are asked to work in the book. Then you do your homework and your tests. It is the soul of simplicity. No proofs, no real theory in any depth, but that is not the point of this type of applied stat course.
So for anyone who wants to get through a second semester stat course with no nonsense, this is a great book that will save you time and hassle, and is well worth the price you pay.
People giving the book bad reviews really need to consider that this book is not about statistical theory or about pure math and mathematical proof. If you want to study pure math, that is a wonderful and interesting subject in and of itself, but that is not the subject of this book. After a couple of introductory chapters on basis probability and set theory, this book guides you and teaches you how to do statistical inference. That means doing a *lot* of hypothesis testing. You are going to see and experience so many different types of hypothesis tests that you are going to see them in your sleep. But that's ok, because that is the purpose of a textbook on statistical inference. This books introduces the tests, tells you the premise why the test is needed, explains what must be verified before a particular test can be applied, and then it gives you one or two examples, each followed by examples you are asked to work in the book. Then you do your homework and your tests. It is the soul of simplicity. No proofs, no real theory in any depth, but that is not the point of this type of applied stat course.
So for anyone who wants to get through a second semester stat course with no nonsense, this is a great book that will save you time and hassle, and is well worth the price you pay.
May 10, 2019
I see this textbook has gotten some bad reviews, but I find it a very good, pre-calculus algebraic stats text. It goes from basic probability and regression (which I feel should be among the first chapters) on up to chi distribution. My main complaints are these:
1. Choose one technology! This is spread thin over Excel, TI-84 graphing calculator and MiniTab
2. coefficient of determination is not mentioned here while being more prevalent that Pearson's correlation coefficient -- even among the chosen technologies.
3. So much today revolves around the p-value, the level of marginal significance within a statistical hypothesis test, It fades from this text after initial introduction and its contemporary reassessment is not explored.
4. The author calls a telephone survey as an unbiased sampling, which is hardly ever true!
1. Choose one technology! This is spread thin over Excel, TI-84 graphing calculator and MiniTab
2. coefficient of determination is not mentioned here while being more prevalent that Pearson's correlation coefficient -- even among the chosen technologies.
3. So much today revolves around the p-value, the level of marginal significance within a statistical hypothesis test, It fades from this text after initial introduction and its contemporary reassessment is not explored.
4. The author calls a telephone survey as an unbiased sampling, which is hardly ever true!
May 14, 2019
This book was extremely overwhelming at first but I passed Statistics with a B grade.
April 10, 2021
As expected from Ron Larson, the book is easy to use.
May 11, 2022
Quite the tearjerker. Had me guessing until the very end.
October 20, 2022
I feel like I can DO statistics, but I don't GET statistics. The history and development of the various methods used were not discussed at all.
March 15, 2011
I was kind and rated it with 2 stars since they don't apparently allow half stars here.
A textbook for a pre-requisite class - had to take the course. I think the MyMathLab was more valuable over all. There were questions given as part of the assignments in MML that I could not find how to properly work the problem in the text.
A textbook for a pre-requisite class - had to take the course. I think the MyMathLab was more valuable over all. There were questions given as part of the assignments in MML that I could not find how to properly work the problem in the text.
December 28, 2012
I took this course online and I think the text was really insufficient for an online class. It left out a lot of connecting information. It might be better in a class with a professor or classmates to connect the dots but I ended up having to ask for help from friends (and another stats professor from a different college).
May 11, 2010
The MyStatLab portion is awesome. The "Show me how to do this" button is used a lot by me. And I like the feedback when you get a problem right: "Well done" "Fantastic"
August 16, 2012
Simple, nice explanation.
This book has saved me.
This book has saved me.
December 17, 2014
this book helps the students by explaining the material of a really hard subject in a simple way.
April 8, 2016
I was so glad to be over with this class. The book and online support is great to help understanding. If you struggle use all the resources available to you and a good grade will be your reward.
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July 28, 2018probability distribution
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews