The Basic Practice of Statistics [Hardcover]

David S. Moore (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1994 | ISBN-10: 0716726289 | ISBN-13: 978-0716726289

Designed for students who are not from a mathematical background, this introductory statistical text emphasizes ideas over computation. It highlights the relevance of statistical concepts and their applications. Examples are based on real data drawn from a variety of disciplines. An early emphasis on distribution makes difficult topics such as sampling distributions, confidence intervals and significance tests less confusing. Exercises, bullet lists and highlighted boxes are used to reinforce information.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 680 pages
• Publisher: W H Freeman & Co (Sd) (December 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0716726289
• ISBN-13: 978-0716726289
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,866,426 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars stat book for all disciplines, February 12, 2008

By 

Michael R. Chernick "statman31147" (Holland PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Basic Practice of Statistics (Hardcover)

This book provides an excellent formal introduction to statistics for undergraduates in all disciplines. It is the book I would teach out of for such a course. For specialty areas, I would choose a different text. Courses designed for engineers or health science majors should emphasize the techniques that are most commonly used in their discipline and the examples and applications in their discipline should be emphasized. With that said, there are still many introductory courses at universities that would be well served with this as the text.

I am reviewing the first edition published in 1995. Apparently a second edition has just recently been published. As Moore says in his introduction the text is written as "an introduction to statistics for students in two-year and four-year colleges and universities that emphasizes working with data and statistical ideas." He is true to his word. He follows the guidelines of the professional societies (ASA and MAA) which recommend emphasis on statistical thinking, more data and concepts,less theory and fewer recipes in teaching introductory statistics. They also emphasize active learning in the classroom. This book does all three but is more formal than his first book which presented and emphasized concepts very well but was not structured like a traditional course. Although the text can be used for active learning, it does not go all the way toward the currently popular approach of an activity-based course as has been initiated by Velleman and more recently by Moore himself in his activity based text "The Active Practice of Statistics."

Instructors of introductory statistics courses would be well advised to use one of Moore's text or the other text "Statistics" by Freedman et al.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Highly disappointing, May 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Basic Practice of Statistics (Hardcover)

In comparison with other statistics books, I found this one to be lacking. Important definitions were introduced but they were not expanded. The questions presented during and at the end of the chapters were okay but the references in the chapter that should have provided the answers were inadequate. I felt it was a poorly written, poorly organized book that cannot hold a candle to the majority of college level introductory level statistic textbooks.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great, highly readable statistics textbook, March 11, 1999

By 

Ian Turner (New York City) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Basic Practice of Statistics (Hardcover)

This is one of the most readable mathmatics textbooks I have ever seen. I highly reccomend it, especially to high school students taking AP statistics.