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27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
one of David Moore's excellent books on statistics, February 9, 2008
This was the first of many well written introductory texts by David Moore. It is now in its fourth edition and in paperback form it is very reasonably priced. Moore emphasizes the concepts and not the computational aspects and mathematics. This helps undergraduate students in any discipline to become statistically literate. Moore is both a Professor of Statistics at Purdue University and an educator. He has also served as President of the American Statistical Association. Known for his clear writing style, he has led the way in training statistics to the masses. This book was his first attempt (very successful) and it has been followed by many others including the most recent text which takes an activity-based approach to teaching.
Among the concepts presented are: (1) sampling and randomization, (2) why experiment and what designs to use, (3) measurement accuracy, (4) understanding relationships (contingency tables, scatterplots, correlation and regression), (5)index numbers (CPI), (6) the role of government statistics, (7) understanding changes over time, (8) probability, (9) probability through simulation and (10) inference including confidence intervals for means and proportions. The text includes many useful exercises which enhance understanding.
Also many nice cartoons are included for humor and enhancing explanations. One cartoon shows a team with seven basketball players of which 6 a short and one is very tall. In the caption the publicists asks the coach "Should we scare the opposition by announcing our mean height or lull them by announcing our median height?" A clear example where the one tall person distorts the picture giving a high value for the mean that does not represent the group while on the other hand the median gives a good representation of the central height for the group but hides the fact that they have a very tall player.
The book is great for beginners but is also a good reference book for anyone. It is stimulating and thought provoking.
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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
great coverage of concepts and philosophy at beginning level, August 10, 2000
This was the first of many well written introductory texts by David Moore. It is now in its fourth edition and in paperback form it is very reasonably priced. Moore emphasizes the concepts and not the computational aspects and mathematics. This helps undergraduate students in any discipline to become statistically literate. Moore is both a Professor of Statistics at Purdue University and an educator. He has also served as President of the American Statistical Association. Known for his clear writing style, he has led the way in training statistics to the masses. This book was his first attempt (very successful) and it has been followed by many others including the most recent text which takes an activity-based approach to teaching.Among the concepts presented are: (1) sampling and randomization, (2) why experiment and what designs to use, (3) measurement accuracy, (4) understanding relationships (contingency tables, scatterplots, correlation and regression), (5)index numbers (CPI), (6) the role of government statistics, (7) understanding changes over time, (8) probability, (9) probability through simulation and (10) inference including confidence intervals for means and proportions. The text includes many useful exercises which enhance understanding. Also many nice cartoons are included for humor and enhancing explanations. One cartoon shows a team with seven basketball players of which 6 a short and one is very tall. In the caption the publicists asks the coach "Should we scare the opposition by announcing our mean height or lull them by announcing our median height?" A clear example where the one tall person distorts the picture giving a high value for the mean that does not represent the group while on the other hand the median gives a good representation of the central height for the group but hides the fact that they have a very tall player. The book is great for beginners but is also a good reference book for anyone. It is stimulating and thought provoking.
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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not at the level I need for a textbook, December 12, 2005
While this book is very readable, the level of difficulty does not reach a height equal to my needs. I teach a course in basic statistics at the college level and we cover inference, regression, probability models, chi-square and ANOVA. All but ANOVA are covered here, but the depth of coverage is very shallow. That is no more evident than when you examine the tables at the end of the book. There are only two, one of random digits and the other contains the values of the normal distribution from -3.4 to 3.4 in one-tenth increments. No tables of t-scores, chi-square or any other statistical test.
Only eighty pages are devoted to inference, covering confidence intervals through two-way tables. There are many diagrams and blurbs in the margins, but few formulas. There are exercises at the end of the sections and solutions to the odd-numbered ones are given in an appendix. What is covered in the book is very well presented, however the depth of coverage is so shallow as to render it useless for anything but a very general survey course of how statistics is used in the modern world.
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by Robert Perrin
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