The Basic Practice of Statistics, Third Edition [Hardcover]

David S. Moore (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 4, 2003 | ISBN-10: 0716758814 | ISBN-13: 978-0716758815 | Edition: 3rd

In "Basic Practice of Statistics", Moore brings the data analysis approach to the one-term course, with an accessible, fun style that helps students with limited mathematical backgrounds utilize the same tools, techniques and interpretive skills working statisticians rely on everyday. The third edition continues the tradition of Moore's convenient and user-friendly style through a reorganized format, review chapters at the end of each part, and new examples and exercises.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

DAVID S. MOORE is Shanti S. Gupta Distinguished Professor of Statistics at Purdue University. He received his A.B. from Princeton (1962) and the Ph.D. from Cornell (1967), both in mathematics. He has written many research papers in statistical theory and served on the editorial boards of several major journals. Professor Moore is an elected fellow of the American Statistical Association and of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics, and an elected member of the International Statistical Institute. He has served as program director for statistics and probability at the National Science Foundation. He was 1998 president of the American Statistical Association.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 674 pages
• Publisher: W. H. Freeman; 3rd edition (June 4, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0716758814
• ISBN-13: 978-0716758815
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #190,730 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Wrong answers, Wrong book, January 29, 2005

By 

angry statistic student "nana" (Glendale, CA) - See all my reviews

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

I bought this book because it was required textbook. But if I had a choice of selecting my own textbook, this wouldn't be it. Some of the answers on the back were wrong (after few times, you can't trust the answers or yourself any more), un-updated with newer version, and too short answers to figure out what is the explanation of the outcomes. So I turned to the CDs which came with the book, only to find that the website links are all messed up and needed an instructor's registered email to access any important stuff. --simply useless.

I am usually not very active about giving advice but in this case I had to speak out--Don't buy. I have another advise for you if you are the publisher: revise. third edition doesn't seem to be any better than 2nd.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Key Points, August 1, 2008

By 

S. M Marson (Lumberton, NC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Basic Practice of Statistics w/CD-ROM (Hardcover)

I notice that most of the reviews for Moore's THE BASIC PRACTICE OF STATISTICS have been written by students. I found these reviews insightful to read. My students (like the ones who composed the reviews) are not math majors and do NOT want to enroll in a statistics course.

Being sensitive to that fact, I spent a great deal of time selecting a statistic text. I had several concerns which directed me toward adopting Moore's text:

1. Oftentimes, one can find typos in textbooks. This isn't a major problem, but if there is a typo in a formula, the problems for students are enormous! If the professor is from the math or statistics department, he/she can quickly catch the error and explain it to the students. If the professor is from the social sciences, he/she is less likely to catch the error. I've actually found errors in statistics textbooks. These critical errors usually can be found in books which are written by social scientists (someone like me). Thus, I've concluded that stat books written by statisticians are less apt to have typos than stat books written by social scientists. Moore is a statistician with a considerable reputation.

2. I needed a book with excellent graphic illustrations. A good graphic will help a student understand a complex statistical concept better than the written word. Moore's text is filled with great graphics that explain complex concepts. Page 347 is a great example and has produced an epiphany for several students.

3. I needed an introductory book that included information on control charts. Moore offers this. Frankly, I haven't found another intro stat book that does this.

I've reviewed a large number of statistic textbooks. In my estimation, Moore offers the best book for non math majors.

For more reading about the use of THE BASIC PRACTICE OF STATISTICS, check out volume 27 issues 3-4, 2007, pages 199-213 of THE JOURNAL OF TEACHING IN SOCIAL WORK.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A jumble of deviations, April 14, 2005

By 

Winston Kotzan (Chicago) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

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

This book was poorly planned. To a student learning statistics, this book can be very confusing. Contrary to traditional textbooks with a review problems section at the end of each chapter, the problems in this book are intermingled throughout the chapter! Therefore meat of this book - explanations of concepts - gets disbursed over many pages. This makes it difficult to outline the important concepts for reviewing. Margins and empty spaces are cluttered with irrelevant photography and trivia, making it difficult to concentrate. Another annoyance is that the author stuffs "cursory information" that doesn't apply until later chapters. A person trying to grasp the main points is suddenly confronted with an incomplete and unfinished idea followed by a tiny footnote saying "you can skip this page until Chapter 22." It would be a great help if the author included more graphs and pictorial representations so that the reader can visualize the concepts. If this book is required for a class, you should get the most from the professor's lecture or else you're in serious trouble!