Statistics Unplugged

My daughter took a college level statistics course, with this book assigned. Her major was in an unrelated field, but the statistics course was required. She needed quite a bit of help with the class, so I bought a second book for me at home. I recall statistics from college back in the 80's, but my book was nothing like this. Caldwell has done an EXCELLENT job describing complex topics. I'm a bit of a numbers geek, and I actually enjoyed reading this book. Moms and dads everywhere should buy a second copy for home, to help their far-off college kids. I was pleasantly surprised.

This book does the best job of any book I've seen of introducing introductory statistical concepts. This book will give you the foundation upon which to build your statistical repertoire. Caldwell breaks everything down into the simplest of explanations and then draws the pieces together into a cohesive conceptual framework. She even tells you when future concepts will rely on a concept in the current chapter, advising you when you need a deeper understanding in order to learn the next step. In this way, you know what is expected -- when to review and when to move forward. I recommend this book as a supplement to a more comprehensive intro book. While other books give you more comprehensive details, this book gives you the conceptual framework which is required to truly excel at quantitative analysis. If you are struggling in statistics, have a need to truly excel, or need a review before moving on to more advanced statistics, this is the best book -- by far -- available today.

Well done, Professor Caldwell! This is an excellent book. As a faculty member of a medical school, it is a challenge to explain the statistics we employ to our medical students in a clear and cogent manner. This book makes it appear so easy! I would highly recommend it to students taking statistics for the first time, to those needing a refresher, and to teachers in search of simple explanations of complex issues.

Sally Caldwell has always enjoyed a tempestuous relationship with author and Algebra biographer Kenn Amdahl, and there are allusions to that relationship in the cover notes of this stunning album from one of the most enigmatic bands of the last century, Statistics. Back in the 70's, you were either a Blurred fan, or a Oascissor Sisters fan, and that analogy can be applied to Statistics and their archrivals Algebra. Statistics fans, or "nerds", as they christened themselves, hated Algebra, and their fans ("geeks"), rivalries often spilling over into chanting, violence, and bottle throwing at concerts. Caldwell cheekily refers to Amdahl as a "nuisance parameter" in her detailed sleeve notes - a jibe that will surely have recriminations, although not on the same scale as those involving Tupac Shaker, this reviewer hopes. There are several stand-out tracks on this album, including "Chi Squared", "The Statistic T", and the haunting "Correlation Coefficient", with its normal distribution of panpipes. "Sum of Squares", played on an Unbiased Estimate of trumpets is the Confounding Factor on this album. Take the F test and buy this album today. A sampling distribution shows the average deviation of the cost of this album to be a measly 2 dollars 14 cents! Excellent work.

This book is a very good work for beginners in Statistics. It gives a clear picture of the fundamentals and a good explanation for the formulas. Though this book doesnt have too much of math, it gives you a feel of what statistics is all about. I would recommend this book for people who are taking statistics for the first time or for people who have tough time following the math notations sometimes. The author does a good job by explaining all the concepts with examples. Well done.