Customer Reviews

The Manga Guide to Statistics

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I loved "The Cartoon Guide to Statistics" because it was humorous very simply told and yet accurately taught. Some of the material is so good that I now use it in my introductory biostatistics course.

The Manga Guide to Statistics does similar things but a little differently. This book is in cartoon strip form and the characters are familiar to many kids who these days wacth the Japanese cartoons on television and read the comic books. This includes my son Daniel who is a high school junior. Dan hates to read but loves math and science and this is the first statistics book that intrigued him enough to read it! I know is reading it and enjoying learning from it by the questions he asks. So like the other cartoon book on statistics this too is a gentle introduction for those with math skills and those with an aversion to mathematics. It shows how statistics is practical by illustrating the techniques on everyday real world data, such as the scores of bowling team players at a bowling alley. It covers the basic summary statistics, correlation, hypothesis testing and probability distributions. What I found interesting was that in addition to the ordinary Pearson product moment correlation they also provided intra-class correlation and Cramer's V (for categorical data). These methods are rarely covered in elementary texts.

One thing it has that is missing in "The Cartoon Guide to Statistics" is the teaching of how to use the computer to apply what they learn. In the final chapter they do this using Excel and teaching things step by step using screen shots of excel spreadsheets.

Throughout the book when a new statistic is introduced they go through the step by step details of the calculations. This is something that student do not necessarily need to learn in the age of computers and statistical computer packages. However, going through the tedium of the calculations has a way of reinforcing the concepts and it gives the student a better understanding of exactly what a variance and a standard deviation are.

I recommend this book for high school students to supplement what they learn in class or for independent self-learning. College student with weak math backgrounds who need an introduction to statistics may also find this book useful and interesting. It is working wonders for Dan who now wants to get the soon to be published Manga guides to physics, calculus, microbiology and databases! Unfortunately this one is the first to come out and the others won't appear until later in 2009.

Since I enjoyed the Manga Guide to Statistics, I guess the author achieved at least one objective of good teaching - keep the learner interested. The use of well thought out graphics and humorous examples are likely to encourage a learner to attend to the content.
Still, maintaining interest and good teaching, while related, are not identical. One can maintain interest in ways that detract from learning as well as in ways that enhance learning.
The tendency in this text to oversimplify (e.g., the discussion of what is and is not "measurable" at the beginning of the book, the underemphasis of the importance of random selection) are definite negatives. They will lead a learner with no background in the use of statistical procedures to mistaken conclusions about the meaning of measurements and the generalizability of findings.
In at least one case, the oversimplification proceeds to the point of presenting information that is wrong (i.e., the examples of alternative hypotheses on pp. 172-173). To be fair, there are many "gentle" statistics texts that, as does the Manga Guide to Statistics, present the notion that the alternative hypothesis is simply "not the null hypothesis."
Despite the popularity of this view, Neyman and Pearson (who developed statistical hypothesis testing theory 75 years ago) noted that the "not the null" formulation of the alternative hypothesis would lead to the acceptance of trivial effects as meaningful simply because they were "statistically significant."
The "not the null" formulation of the alternative hypothesis creates other problems.
For example, the null hypothesis on page 173, "The allowances of high school girls in Tokyo and Osaka are the same," has as its alternative, "The allowances of high school girls in Tokyo and Osaka are not the same." Stating the alternative hypothesis in this way does not permit an evaluation of the power of a statistical test (power refers to the probability that a test will detect a difference, change or relationship when it is present). As Neyman noted, since the test would have to detect an infinitesimal difference, the power would necessarily be infinitesimal as well.
Instead, an alternative hypothesis should specify a minimum effect, e.g., "The allowances of high school girls in Tokyo and Osaka differ by an average amount of at least ¥500." By specifying a minimum effect to be detected, we can find the probability that a statistical hypothesis test would detect a difference of at least ¥500 (the test's power).
Since I have to devote time to "unteaching" the "not the null" formulation of the alternative hypothesis, I am far from thrilled to see it here. Convincing learners that the easily understood "not the null" definition is wrong usually requires a lot of work and pain.
After all, who likes being told that what they thought they understood, is what they still do not understand?
This makes it more difficult for me to help my students understand the central importance of power to statistical testing. And, as Neyman pointed out, the power of a test is the main determinant of how useful it is.
It may seem that I am asking too much of an introductory text.
I do not think so.
It is my experience that one must engage in some fairly sophisticated reasoning to understand the meaning of the results of a statistical analysis. The simple, obvious interpretation is almost always wrong (cf., Darrell Huff's How to lie with statistics).
We do a learner no favors by simplifying a complex process to the point where we deceive the learner into thinking that they understand something that they do not.
The trick (which I am still working on mastering) is to help learners learn how to enjoy the challenge of minimizing, but still living with, uncertainty (an important element of all statistical reasoning) and also to help them learn to be suspicious of "easy" answers.
I recently got around to reading W. Edwards Deming's book, Out of the Crisis. In it, he made an observation about maintaining learner interest and quality teaching that is relevant to this book: "In my experience, I have seen a teacher hold a hundred and fifty students spellbound, teaching what is wrong." The Manga Guide to Statistics held my interest from the moment I started reading it. In fact, I read it in one sitting. I honestly enjoyed reading it, but it is wrong in too many places.
I purchased the Manga Guide to Statistics thinking that I might use it in my introductory research methods courses. I shall not use it. I shall not recommend it. I shall not mention it.

Note: I apologize for the lengthy discussion of the alternative hypothesis. I am afraid that I am not clever enough to find another way to demonstrate the problem of oversimplification.

Deming, W.E. (1986). Out of the Crisis. Cambridge, MA: MIT Center for Advanced Engineering Study.

Huff, D. (1954). How to Lie with Statistics. NY: Norton.

Neyman, J. & Pearson, E. (1933). On the problem of the most efficient tests of statistical hypotheses. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences, 231, 289-337.

I don't know where to start. This is the best statistics book. Ever.

I never thought I'd say this, but the authors have made a book on statistics FUN without dumbing it down (this effectively covers at least the entirety of a college level stat intro class).

As a student, this cleared up many problems I'd been having operationalizing fairly advanced formula within Excel. The chapter on inputting statistical formulae in Excel is amazing and worth the cost of the book in itself. The explanations of the formulas use concrete, real world examples. No gambling examples or other unnecesarily abstract or standard scenarios.

As a teacher, I bow down to Mr. Takahashi and the folks at Trend-pro. Their pedagogical expertise is unparalleled. I can only hope that one day I am 1/10th the teacher this man is. He made statistics, a fairly dry subject, not just palatable, but entertaining.

Arigato.

Can You Learn Statistics from Cartoons?

The short answer is yes. The is a deceptively simple introduction to statistics that is taught via manga, or Japanese cartoons. If you ride the subway in Tokyo, you'll see many riders reading manga for diversion on their way to and from work. They are serial stories presented in black and white cartoons.

The Manga Guide to Statistics uses a cartoon format to present elementary statistics. You might think that an apparently non-serious approach wouldn't work in introducing a complicated subject such as statistics, but think again. The basics are all here. Chapters are included on the subjects listed below

Categorical & Numerical Data defined

Numerical Data
Various descriptions, mean, median, standard deviation, estimation theory

Categorical Data
Cross tabulations

Standard Score, Deviation Score

Probability
Probability density function
Standard normal distribution
Chi square distribution
t distribution
F distribution
Use of computer spread sheets to do the math

Testing Variables
Correlation coefficient
Correlation ratio
Cramer's coefficient

Hypothesis Testing
Chi-Square test of independence
Null hypothesis and alternative hypothesis
P-value and procedure for hypothesis tests
Tests of independence and tests of homogeneity
Again, use of computers to simplify the calculations

This is a good book for a general introduction to the theory and methodology of statistics. It is short on examples and problems to work on, but for certain readers, it may have value in helping them understand the available statistical tools. It is also short as well on explaining the strengths and weaknesses of statistics, For example, I don't believe you could use just the material in the book to critique the use of statistics in a medical article.

While it has the math, and a short description of the theory, it falls short in teaching the philosophy behind our understanding of statistics. If you don't believe that is important, take a look at the current financial landscape in the world. Many people blame the "greed" of Wall Street for our financial troubles, but a more basic cause is a misuse and lack of understanding about what one can actually learn from statistics. In short, in the real world, there is no such thing as a "normal" population, and the expression P=0 never happens. An admittedly longer and more complex book that should be on the short reading list of all who are interested in "understanding" statistics is The Cult of Statistical Significance: How the Standard Error Costs Us Jobs, Justice, and Lives by by Deirdre Nansen McCloskey and Steve Ziliak

But for an introduction, it may be very helpful to certain readers, particularly to those who may be visual learners.

Recommended with reservations.

I have never been a big manga fan, and I truly suck at math, statistic included. But I've always wanted to know at least a little math, and statistics seems to be among the more interesting areas (perhaps because of how stats can be abused in government, the marketplace, etc.). I have read "The Cartoon Guide to Statistics" and found it fun, useful book. But I think "Manga" is better. For one thing, as white Westerner, I was utterly charmed by the Japanese flair in the book. My favorite example is when the tutor told a recalcitrant Rui, "You dampen my spirits." I would love to think that somewhere in America we have a math tutor who would say such a thing. I doubt we do.

The art and narrative is relentlessly cute (in a way I approve of...after all, who doesn't love the Japanese gape-mouthed pillow cushion of a monster, Domo?). And the statistics instruction is, while kept basic enough, comprehensive enough to have made me feel like I was picking up valuable knowledge. There's probably nothing here that a real statistician would find compelling, but for a young person or an older person who's never properly learned any statistics, this book is the spoonful of plum wine that helps the standard deviations go down.

As to unadulterated usefulness, that might come in the last chapter and appendix, which demonstrates how an Excel spreadsheet can be used to figure out statistical data. Another reviewer commented that the longish-winded explanations the tutor gives to how statistics work, the formulae that are used to work them out, are unnecessary because most of those functions are easily accomplished with computers now. That's a fair point, but I disagree. I still think there is something importantly organically with connecting on an understanding level with what computer functions are up to that helps maintain the meaning of those functions for us better. I might liken it to photography--sure, a digital autofocus camera might effortlessly take better pictures than we could with a manual focus old Nikon SLR. But what we learn composing the hands-on way might make us understand and appreciate the product of technology all the more.

In this perhaps the book is just capturing something I imagine to be a flavor of Japan...a country with profound traditions, and incredible technological prowess. Even manga artwork seems to be a fusion of traditional minimalism with something very vanguard and hip. In other words, not only is "The Manga Guide to Statistics" a good work of pedagogy, but it's a darn fine work of pop art as well.

I bought this book on a whim - I like manga, and statistics play a big part in my daily life. I was expecting this book to suck - how can manga be informative in an academic manner?

To my surprise, it is quite a good book. The topics covered range from high-school statistics (mean, median) to first year uni stats (hypothesis testing).

I'll be one to admit that stats is a dry subject, but Shin Takahashi made it fun (plus it was fun to read the storyline by itself). And yes, I even learnt something (Cramer's V coefficient, which I never needed in my line of work).

My only grouse with it is that it didn't continue further. I was expecting more, but I guess this is why its an intro book.

Ahh, statistics. The subject that so many of us need to understand, too few grasp, and even fewer seem to enjoy. What better way is there to test the quality of the book than for me to read about something I don't particularly enjoy and have never been terribly good with?

The book is designed to give an elementary understanding of basic statistical concepts and methods in a creative and approachable manner. I'll skip to the bottom line and say that I think it succeeds in doing so. The art is very well done, the story line is a bit better than in the Electricity book I reviewed previously, although it bogs down near the end, and the information is presented in a clear and logical manner.

The Manga Guide to Statistics begins by defining various data types and how to determine in which category the data you have belong. Then it digs deeper into understanding numerical (quantitative) data and categorical (qualitative) data. Later, you are guided through normalization, scoring, deviations, probability, relationships between variables, and testing hypotheses. All the standard foundational aspects of statistics are covered in enough depth to give a valid and useful introduction.

One thing I really liked was the appendix, which shows very clearly how to do all of the major calculations using Microsoft Excel, with xls spreadsheets available for download from the publisher's website. While it would certainly be my preference to NOT have this topic tied to a specific program from one vendor, I did test out many of the spreadsheets and instructions using [...] spreadsheet. Good news! With the exception of menu locations for functions being different and requiring a little bit of not-too-difficult searching, I was able to follow all of the directions I attempted from the appendix using[...] That freed me from an expensive and unnecessary expenditure (or at least from having to find a place and way to use software I don't want to use).

If you already know statistics pretty well, this book wouldn't be useful to you. If you are looking for an easy to understand and quality introduction that includes a bit of frivolity, you will find this book both useful and enjoyable. I did.

I loved this book. I found it to be hilarious, even in places where it wasn't trying. The story is well integrated with the main subject, better than other educational comic books I've read.

The book starts out explaining the basics of statistics, including data types, averages, and standard deviation. Then it dives in to heavier topics such as standard score and probability density. The examples in the book really helped me understand the topics.

The first half of the book was easy reading, and I learned a lot. The second half was more difficult. I had to go over a few things twice and sometimes look to the internet for additional help. This could just be because I had no previous study in statistics at all.

The last part of the book covers relationships between values (correlation ratio) and hypothesis tests. I will also mention that I think the relationship between the high school student Rui and her much older tutor is sometimes inappropriate. There is some flirting between them, and at one point she is in her underwear with him.

I enjoyed the book and I am looking forward to the one on databases

This excellent, fun and gentle tutorial in Statistics will alleviate the anxiety of business and social science students who are required to take a Statistical Methods course but were always afraid of Mathematics. It encourages the reader to sit back, enjoy the story, and follow along with the solution to real world problems. It is more extensive than most introductions to the field but requires less concentrated effort than others. Finally, it has the excellent sense to offer solutions in Microsoft Office Excel, which will be available to students and professionals in almost any academic or commercial environment. In leading us by the hand through solving realistic problems it allows gentle learning, while not giving a false impression that all can be absorbed without any effort. Altogether a fun guide, or refresher to anyone who needs statistical competence in their work or education.
--Ira Laefsky

Statistics is a math subject that seems to come naturally to some people. For the rest of the world, it is like a foreign language. This fun little manga "textbook" on statistics might be a way to approach it for some people. If you really love manga, this could very well be the way you finally learn statistics. If you don't like manga, the silly schoolgirl romance storyline may put you off. If you already know statistics, this is a moderately fun way to review the subject.

The drawings are fine, and the subject matter is covered thoroughly and correctly. Don't make the mistake of thinking that just because it's manga, it is not a rigorous approach! The authors do not water down the subject at all.