Customer Reviews

Interpreting Basic Statistics: A Guide and Workbook Based on Excerts Form Journal Articles

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I used parts of this book (2nd edition)to teach Basic Statistics to Business students at Cambridge College. It provides a VERY basic introduction to most most statistical concepts, but you need to supplement the Journal Article Excerpts it provides with a lot of material. There is little reason to believe that a student can really grasp all of the fundamentals of statistics using this book. For those who just want a superficial introduction to some basic concepts (which they are likely to forget before ever truly being able to apply), I guess this book is somewhat satisfactory.

Clearly, this is an introductory book. As the title implies, the book's contents are very basic - most appropriate for undergraduate (or maybe even high school) statistics; probably not for graduate students unless they need something for a 'super quick' review. (But even then, there are references other than this book better suited for that purpose.)

The author says the book might be used to demonstrate "that the interpretation of data is not always straigthforward" (p. vii). But I think using "excerpts" of studies makes it more difficult to understand how and why approaches to data interpretation vary. An appropriately chosen article may serve the purpose as adequately as the book (if not more).

Book is in great condition but it is written in it too much. It will do great for class.

The book was quite beat up, had answers written in it, cover torn, etc. Wasn't incredibly pleased.

This is a case of a publisher who puts out different editions without thinking. It difficult (and very expensive)to get all of my students to purchase the same Edition. In fact the latest edition is almost impossible to locate. Yet, the workbook pages are so varied from edition to edition, that it is nearly impossible to coordinate among students in a class. While I applaud Holcomb for wishing to keep the examples fresh and updated, this is a case of simply not thinking about how the book would be used. I would suggest staying away ... its more trouble than its worth.