Statistics for Business and Economics

Statistics is a mind-numbing subject. It's not easy, and not particularly exciting, either. This book doesn't exactly bring loads of fun to the subject, but it explains concepts well, provides pertinent examples, and offers plenty of useful practice problems. The authors and publishers have paid particularly close attention to detail, ensuring, for instance, that all diagrams are on the same page as the concepts they elucidate. This may be a small thing to some, but I find it tiresome that with so many texts you are forced continually to flip back and forth from diagrams on one page to pertinent information on another. I have a background in the Humanities and before the MBA stats course had not completed a math course since high school -- 20 years ago! (48th percentile quant GMAT!) My head was swimming after the first couple of lectures, but I sat down with this text, read it carefully, worked through ALL the problems, and received an A in the course. So far, I know of no other person that earned a full A, so the course was not a walk in the park. I believe that the one thing that differentiated me from the more capable quant jocks is that I spent plenty of quality time with the text. If this is your textbook, you've got a good one. Use it well and good luck. BTW, my one complaint is that the shiny paper reflects into your eyes under fluorescent lighting. Too bad almost all publishers, including this one, feel compelled to go with the glossy paper.

If you have no clue about statistics, then this is the best book your money can money. It is crystal clear.However, if you've already taken statistics, you might find this book to be too basic.

I only have the fifth edition of this book, but it is probably similar to this edition. I used this book, when I was teaching statistics many years ago. The book is very clear and it explains each statistical concept very thoroughly. As an online statistics tutor, I find myself referring to it all the time. It has all of the topics that are normally covered in a first course in statistics. It also has some very good chapters on elective topics such as nonparametrics, sample surveys, and quality control. I took many courses in these subjects in undergraduate and graduate school, and I find that this book is a good review for some of the things I've forgotten. I have many statistics books both elementary and advanced. This is one of only two elementary books that I would purchase again (my teacher's edition is losing the binding!). It is probably the most complete book on statistics that I have ever read at this level. I would certainly recommend this book to anybody who is taking statistics for the first time. I would also recommend this book to statistics majors who plan to go into teaching and need a good review text.

This is a definately worthwhile learning tool which can aid anyone who is attempting to tackle statistics for the first time. The methods and theories are concise, direct, and most of all, clearly stated. The authors bring you step by step through each procedure and then offer exercises to demonstrate the process while giving you the confidence to go on. This book was puchased midway through the semester. At that time I was struggling to maintain a C average. With the help of this book I was able to close the semester with an 89% average.

After taking this course for the second time, I found that this book really explained concepts well. I had trouble learning statistics the first time, but this book adds real-life applications making it easy to learn why it works the way it does. If you are hesitant or jittery about this class...relax. This book will make your life easier.