Customer Reviews

How to Think About Statistics: Sixth Edition (Series of Books in Psychology)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I started using this book as a supplemental text in my introduciton to statistics classes. It is straightforward, intuitive, and explains concpetual issues in statistics very well. Students who have trouble with other statistics book find that Phillip's book is a tremendous help. This book helps "Understand Statistics" in a non-mathematical way.

This book focuses on concepts rather than computation. It is an excellent supplemental text which takes the time to explain the ideas behind the equations. Statistics can be very difficult conceptually to the beginning student. By focusing on concepts, this book can break down some barriers to learning.

The scope is that of an introductory statistics course, including in introduction to measures of central tendency, the normal distribution, correlation, inference, hypothesis testing, and a final chapter on correlation, causation and effect size. The example problems are well chosen, and the discussion is clear and well reasoned. If I were teaching a course in statistics, I would require this as a supplemental text. It is also appropriate for self study.

This book is a great introduction to statistics. The author not only explains each concept with its application, but also provides case scenarios to reinforce the concept. But it doesn't stop here. The author goes even further and examines the circumstances and assumptions surrounding each application of the concepts. An excellent introductory book for understanding statistics!

I originally checked this book out from the library to study for an exam. I liked it so much that I bought it. Would definitely recommend this book to people who want a general overview of basic statistics.

I bought this book for use when I was taking an atrociously bad statistics class from a professor who was obviously incompetent to teach intro to statistics (i.e. her slides a and homework were riddled with errors). This book was a lifesaver, giving me the basic concepts that she skimmed over. As others have pointed out, it's a beginning book and not technically correct for the higher levels, but if you're finding statistics hard to grasp, I'd recommend reading through at least a few of these chapters.

This book is a fairly good intro to stats, for someone looking for alternate explanations. HOWEVER, there are some glaring problems-- Philips does not understand significance testing, for example. This book should be taken with several grains of salt and used only as one of many supplemental texts.

It's been about 20 years since I'd done any statistics, so I got the 5th edition from the library. It's a very good overview of the basic concepts.

I purchased the 6th edition so I could have my own copy that I could write in, but I'm very unhappy with the book itself. It's printed on a cheap pulp paper that's so bad that any kind of marking (highlighter, ballpoint pen, etc.) bleeds through to the other side of the page. The binding is so weak I'm afraid to put it in a book holder. Overall, the quality is no better than a supermarket romance novel.

What a shame, I'd have paid more for a quality book I could have kept on my reference shelf.

I had one of the earliest editions years ago, and decided to get the latest edition. Unfortunately, the various "Boxes" have a weird gray, streaky shading--reminiscent of what you get out of a 30-year-old photocopier at your library--rendering them hard to read.

The book is still a great introduction and quite valuable if read before you take a class in the subject.

The thorough explanations I found in this book concerning statistics gave me reason to order it. Originally, I had borrowed it from the library. I still refer to it and use it to teach stats without going into the numbers. In doing this my students are able to gain the concepts before we begin to work the problems.