Statistics For Dummies [Paperback]

Deborah Rumsey (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0764554239 | ISBN-13: 978-0764554230 | Publication Date: August 25, 2003 | Edition: 1

In the numbers explosion all around us in our modern-day dealings, the buzzword is data, as in, “Do you have any data to support your claim?” “The data supported the original hypothesis that . . .” and “The data bear this out. . . .” But the field of statistics is not just about data. Statistics is the entire process involved in gathering evidence to answer questions about the world, in cases where that evidence happens to be numerical data.

Statistics For Dummies is for everyone who wants to sort through and evaluate the incredible amount of statistical information that comes to them on a daily basis. (You know the stuff: charts, graphs, tables, as well as headlines that talk about the results of the latest poll, survey, experiment, or other scientific study.) This book arms you with the ability to decipher and make important decisions about statistical results, being ever aware of the ways in which people can mislead you with statistics. Get the inside scoop on number-crunching nuances, plus insight into how you can

• Determine the odds
• Calculate a standard score
• Find the margin of error
• Recognize the impact of polls
• Establish criteria for a good survey
• Make informed decisions about experiments

This down-to-earth reference is chock-full of real examples from real sources that are relevant to your everyday life: from the latest medical breakthroughs, crime studies, and population trends to surveys on Internet dating, cell phone use, and the worst cars of the millennium. Statistics For Dummies departs from traditional statistics texts, references, supplement books, and study guides in the following ways:

• Practical and intuitive explanations of statistical concepts, ideas, techniques, formulas, and calculations.
• Clear and concise step-by-step procedures that intuitively explain how to work through statistics problems.
• Upfront and honest answers to your questions like, “What does this really mean?” and “When and how I will ever use this?”

Chances are, Statistics For Dummies will be your No. 1 resource for discovering how numerical data figures into your corner of the universe.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"…it would certainly help many students, particularly those on service courses, to grasp the concepts and see the wider picture." (MSOR Newsletter, September 2007)

From the Back Cover

Work through real-world problems

From mean to median to probability – understand the terms and crunch the numbers with ease

Stymied by statistics? No fear – this friendly guide offers clear, practical explanations of statistical ideas, techniques, formulas, and calculations, with lots of examples that show how these concepts apply to your everyday life. You’ll see how to take the margin of error out of opinion polls and how to analyze and interpret data for improved classroom or on-the-job performance.

The Dummies Way

• Explanations in plain English
• "Get in, get out" information
• Icons and other navigational aids
• Tear-out cheat sheet
• Top ten lists
• A dash of humor and fun

Discover how to:

• Interpret and critique graphs and charts
• Determine the odds with probability
• Guesstimate with confidence using confidence intervals
• Set up and carry out a hypothesis test
• Compute statistical formulas

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; 1 edition (August 25, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764554239
• ISBN-13: 978-0764554230
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #35,318 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Deborah Rumsey, PhD, is a Statistics Education Specialist and Auxiliary Faculty Member in the Department of Statistics at Ohio State University. She is also a Fellow of the American Statistical Association and has received the Presidential Teaching Award from Kansas State University. Dr. Rumsey has published numerous papers and given many professional presentations on the subject of statistics education.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent overview and/or review, September 21, 2007

By 

L. F. Smith (E. Wenatchee, WA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Statistics For Dummies (Paperback)

Statistics for Dummies is an excellent overview of the fundamentals of statistics for those who have forgotten some of what they previously learned, those whose instructors left them dazed and confused, or those who just need a quick reference. Like all of the "for Dummies" books, it's not really intended to be a comprehensive instructional program or a definitive reference book. In my view, the book does exactly what it's intended to do.

Several reviewers have mentioned the lack of examples or exercises. They're right; however, there is a companion volume by the same author, Statistics Workbook for Dummies, that solves that problem. Why didn't they do it all in one book? Probably because it would have totaled over 600 pages.

So, this book won't teach you statistics from scratch, but it is a very good introductory level overview of the subject. Like all of the Dummies books, the format is attractive, the organization is clear, and the information is presented in small, easily digestible blocks. More importantly, the author uses just the right approach. She is both thorough and authoritative, but she doesn't assume much expertise among the readers. At the same time, she's never condescending.

This book is well worth the cost, and I recommend it highly.

79 of 85 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not the college refresher I'd hoped for, May 31, 2006

By 

T. Murphy "readitall" (Philly, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Statistics For Dummies (Paperback)

This book covers material that would be found in the early to mid-level phases of a college Statistics course. I was hoping for a deeper refresher, short of re-reading my college texts and notes, and this wasn't the place to find it.

Nonetheless, there are positives worth considering. This book spends a good amount of time discussing normal distributions, the errors encountered in sampling a population, and the testing of hypotheses based on sample statistics. In particular, the explanations for using a Z-distribution or t-distribution were much clearer than any I'd ever read in several university texts. In fact, the textual descriptions are among the most valuable portions of the book, in part because the quantitative portions are scarce.

On the bad side, waaay too much space is devoted to public surveys and the confidence you should or should not place in them. Those chapters could have been condensed into a single entry, and the repeated examples of misleading or incorrect statistical measures were not necessary. There's also virtually nothing on probabilities, the study of which is usually linked to statistics in the introductory courses.

There's simply not enough valuable material to make this a good choice for college prep or refresher material, and as an introductory text, you'll find better alternatives as well.

86 of 96 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Lots missing, July 30, 2004

By 

ruatha "ruatha" (Glen Allen, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Statistics For Dummies (Paperback)

I agree that this is a fair OVERVIEW. But where the entire Dummies series focuses on making complex topics simple and practical, this book fall short. For instance, there is very little value in the Probabilities section; the examples used as so simplistic that they cannot be applied by the reader to any larger question. Want to know the odds of something happening with multiple independent trials? Want to really understand games of chance or card games? Want to figure out for yourself the likelihood of being called on in class over the course of a week? This book can't help you answer these questions. No formulas for individual or multiple trials, dependent or independent events, or the like are presented to enable you to use the examples that are given.

As for general statistics, again this is a fair vehicle to understand statistics in their application, not so good at explaining how they are derived or allowing the reader to apply the information.

In the end I gave this book to my college-bound daughter and she will use it as a companion guide in her stats class. It remains to be seen whether it will add any value even there.

Not a waste of money for someone wanting to understand stats in the media and the like, but certainly a disappointment if you want a refresher on how to crunch the numbers yourself.