Statistics Without Tears: A Primer for Non-Mathematicians (Allyn & Bacon Classics Edition)

This book really helps with basic statistics, but it's not going to take all you troubles away. Having said that, I am less scared of quantitative projects and SPSS as a result of reading it, but still sobbing in my Kleenex every time I have to do it....so there.

This book is true to its title. It IS a primer for non-mathematicians. It teaches extremely useful concepts in a concise and simple way with as little math as possible. A small and easy to read book - you will want to take it with you and read it on the bus, plane, subway, etc.The only drawback is the price - however, it may be not so expensive if it saves you several hours that would be otherwise spent trying to read other, less readable, books. How much is your time worth to you?

Derek Rowntree's Statistics Withuot Tears is an excellent primer on concepts in statistics, written in very easy-to-understand language. It has just enough mathematics in it to be useful as a reference without being opaque. Several books I have read written for "non-mathematicians" have not fit the bill, but this book explains statistics in a way that an average person can understand. A friend of mine says that he recommends this book to friends when they are having difficulty in college statistics courses; it is an excellent tool for explaining concepts in a subject that mathematics instructors sometimes do not explain well.

The text is the first I've found that speaks about statistics in truly lay terms. No Carl Sagan, the author nonetheless brings a difficult--and potentially boring--subject to the masses. Okay, not the masses. Let's just say, the interested. I teach a Stats course in a large M.B.A. program; I recommend this book to all my students.