Statistics 2nd Edition: An Illus Intro

This book accomplishes what it sets out to accomplish admirably; it sets out the basic concepts of statistics with as little reliance on Math as possible, to give students who are not Math-oriented an idea of the subject. If you are Math-oriented, and already know a bit about statistics, you will not learn much here. But that is not the fault of the book; it is not intended to teach someone with a grounding in the subject, any more than it is a flaw of an intro Biology textbook that it doesn't teach Organic Chemistry. I have a couple of minor quibbles about this book, but they're really too minor to mention, and are certainly too minor to dock it a star for.

This was the first of many well written introductory texts by David Moore. It is now in its fourth edition and in paperback form it is very reasonably priced. Moore emphasizes the concepts and not the computational aspects and mathematics. This helps undergraduate students in any discipline to become statistically literate. Moore is both a Professor of Statistics at Purdue University and an educator. He has also served as President of the American Statistical Association. Known for his clear writing style, he has led the way in training statistics to the masses. This book was his first attempt (very successful) and it has been followed by many others including the most recent text which takes an activity-based approach to teaching. Among the concepts presented are: (1) sampling and randomization, (2) why experiment and what designs to use, (3) measurement accuracy, (4) understanding relationships (contingency tables, scatterplots, correlation and regression), (5)index numbers (CPI), (6) the role of government statistics, (7) understanding changes over time, (8) probability, (9) probability through simulation and (10) inference including confidence intervals for means and proportions. The text includes many useful exercises which enhance understanding. Also many nice cartoons are included for humor and enhancing explanations. One cartoon shows a team with seven basketball players of which 6 a short and one is very tall. In the caption the publicists asks the coach "Should we scare the opposition by announcing our mean height or lull them by announcing our median height?" A clear example where the one tall person distorts the picture giving a high value for the mean that does not represent the group while on the other hand the median gives a good representation of the central height for the group but hides the fact that they have a very tall player. The book is great for beginners but is also a good reference book for anyone. It is stimulating and thought provoking.

Want to be statistics savvy? Don't want or can't handle the math in most texts? Then I recommend this book. Well written for the lay person, with careful thought given to progressive learning of stats concepts. An excellent choice for someone who wants to be able to critically understand social statistics. The exercises and review sections are fun - not often the case in this area of study.

I used this book for an applied research and statistics class. It was painfully easy to read and grasp the concepts. The visual aids, cartoons and graphs appearing after each concept were also helpful.

This was the first of many well written introductory texts by David Moore. It is now in its fourth edition and in paperback form it is very reasonably priced. Moore emphasizes the concepts and not the computational aspects and mathematics. This helps undergraduate students in any discipline to become statistically literate. Moore is both a Professor of Statistics at Purdue University and an educator. He has also served as President of the American Statistical Association. Known for his clear writing style, he has led the way in training statistics to the masses. This book was his first attempt (very successful) and it has been followed by many others including the most recent text which takes an activity-based approach to teaching.Among the concepts presented are: (1) sampling and randomization, (2) why experiment and what designs to use, (3) measurement accuracy, (4) understanding relationships (contingency tables, scatterplots, correlation and regression), (5)index numbers (CPI), (6) the role of government statistics, (7) understanding changes over time, (8) probability, (9) probability through simulation and (10) inference including confidence intervals for means and proportions. The text includes many useful exercises which enhance understanding. Also many nice cartoons are included for humor and enhancing explanations. One cartoon shows a team with seven basketball players of which 6 a short and one is very tall. In the caption the publicists asks the coach "Should we scare the opposition by announcing our mean height or lull them by announcing our median height?" A clear example where the one tall person distorts the picture giving a high value for the mean that does not represent the group while on the other hand the median gives a good representation of the central height for the group but hides the fact that they have a very tall player.The book is great for beginners but is also a good reference book for anyone. It is stimulating and thought provoking.