Reading Between the Numbers: Statistical Thinking in Everyday Life [Paperback]

Joseph Tal (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0071364005 | ISBN-13: 978-0071364003 | Publication Date: December 20, 2000 | Edition: 1

This quirky, fast-paced excursion through the world of statistics brings basic statistical concepts down to earth for general readers by showing how statistics are applied in our everyday lives. Drawing on such diverse examples as how pills are manufactured, elections are forecast, and chess tournaments are structured, psychologist Joseph Tal familiarizes readers with variables, means, medians, scales of measurement, sampling, estimating, and other stock-in-trade tools of the statistician. An unusually lively, informal review of statistical concepts Reading Between the Numbers:
• Features dozens of fascinating, often whimsical examples drawn from real life and literature, and 100 vivid graphs and tables
• Makes statistics fun and easy for general readers interested in numbers
• Is the ideal quick-study guide for those who need to learn statistical methods for their jobs
• Focuses on the psychology behind statistics, rather than problem-solving • Is based on the author’s popular professional workshops and seminars

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

A lively and informal introduction to statistics in everyday life

From physics to football, marketing to meteorology, virtually every aspect of modern life involves numbers. But, as statistician/psychologist Joseph Tal writes in this offbeat excursion through the world of statistics, "The numbers must be made to talk, to tell us their story." And that, of course, is where statistics comes in: it is the art and science of getting numbers to reveal present realities and future possibilities.

In Reading Between the Numbers, Joseph Tal brings statistics down to earth for the general reader. Focusing on the psychology behind statistics, he shows how it applies in our everyday lives. He demonstrates how even mundane decisions, such as what to make for dinner or whether to take an umbrella, involve basic statistical reasoning. Tal uses dozens of fascinating examples from the social and natural sciences, sports, business and a whole host of other disciplines. With them he familiarizes you with means, medians and modes, and with sampling, estimating, hypothesis testing and many tools-of-the-trade. And throughout he enlivens the narrative with whimsical and revealing quotes from literary masters ranging from Stendahl to Wilde to Chandler.

Reading Between the Numbers is a fun, fascinating read for anyone interested in numbers. It is an ideal quick-study guide for anyone needing to know statistics for their job or school or life.

About the Author

Joseph Tal, Ph.D. is Managing Director of TechnoStat Ltd., a company based in Israel that provides statistical services for clinical trials, marketing research and industrial engineering. He also conducts a popular series of statistics workshops for non-statisticians in Israel and England. Dr. Tal has worked as a statistician and clinical psychologist and has taught both at Northwestern University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 285 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (December 20, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071364005
• ISBN-13: 978-0071364003
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,020,976 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A New Angle on an Old Topic, April 9, 2001

By 

Merav T. Regensburger (Jerusalem, Israel) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Reading Between the Numbers: Statistical Thinking in Everyday Life (Paperback)

As a professional chemist, I do not look back on the statistics courses I took with particular fondness. While I didn't find them very difficult, neither did I feel that provided me with any deep insights. It was with this, lukewarm attitude that I first picked up Reading Between the Numbers. And then I noticed Chandler's quotation in one of its early chapters. Statistics and Chandler?! This must be interesting. I purchased the book and wasn't disappointed. I found the statistical concepts explained in a way that is both simple and insightful. And the book reminded me that I should have reviewed the topic, which is so important for my work, long ago. But I found the book unique in other ways as well. First, the book is relevant - there is not one concept in it that is not in some way connected to the real world. The author takes special care to show how and why statistics is important in both our professional and everyday lives. The concepts in Reading Between the Numbers are related to applications and vice versa, so that I can now see both sides in a new and more interesting light. Above all, I now feel that the ideas underlying statistics are more accessible to me than before. Second, as in many fields, the more advanced topics are based on earlier ones. And throughout, that author provides reminders of the basics so that I didn't find myself having to return to earlier chapters in order to understand later ones. It seems to me that author was simply sensitive to the needs of nonprofessional readers, which is a rarity in professional books. Finally, Reading Between the Numbers a joy to read. It is written as fiction rather than science and is often very funny. That the author has a rather quirky sense of humor is clear. That he has succeeded in combining it with statistics seems to me no small achievement.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Good, March 31, 2006

By 

D. R. Pitts "daverpitts" (Issaquah, WA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Reading Between the Numbers: Statistical Thinking in Everyday Life (Paperback)

One of the clearest explanations of basic statistics I have read. The author goes to great lengths to explain the issues pros and cons behind measures of central tendency and variation, in a way that is accessable to the layman. HE doesn't feel the need to fill each page with statistical Notation which is refreshing, and gives a lucid description of the difference between Parametric and non Parametric methods, the concept of which I think has escaped even the most seasoned statistics user. Goes all the way to Analaysis of Variance without hardly an equation. The style is more than a little quirky, (the Historical and literary preambles to some of the later chapters may frustrate some) but i'm OK with that. Good job Joseph

5.0 out of 5 stars Great beginning statistics book., October 1, 2010

By 

John Allen (baton rouge, LA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Reading Between the Numbers: Statistical Thinking in Everyday Life (Paperback)

I'm only 60 pages through it and have taken college level statistics courses but I'm still enjoying the book. Provides interesting and relevant beginning statistics examples.