Customer Reviews

Statistics Explained: A Guide for Social Science Students, 2nd Edition

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The only topics missing from this book that I wish had been discussed are validity (concurrent, longitudinal predictive, diagnostic) and item analysis (difficulty and discrimination indexes). A few pages are devoted to reliability, but I would have liked to see more detailed discussion devoted to the differences between the types of reliability measurement (test-retest, split halves, and parallel forms reliability).
These minor points aside, this book is a wonderfully readable and not at all intimidating introduction to statistics. Highly recommended!

Professor Hinton's book provides the reader with the best and clearest explanations for potentially difficult subjects such as Types I and II errors, the meaning of the sums of squares in ANOVA, and the interpretation of Pearson's R in regression. Those are topics that many beginners find hard to grasp. If you have learned "how to do" Statistics but are not sure you understand the underlying concepts this book is for you. If you need a theoretically sound review of basic Statistical concepts, at the same time as readable as possible, this book is for you too. Professor Hinton has an incredible way of explaining hard topics in crystal-clear, easily understandable detail. He does not take anything for granted. Even those afraid of Statistics may find pleasure in reading Hinton's book - the pleasure that comes from thoroughly understanding a concept. This is the second edition of a great book.

Interestingly enough, if you go to Professor Hinton's Oxford Brookes University website you will see that he is not listed as a Statistics Professor. According to the website he is responsible for managing the Institute's portfolio of undergraduate modular programmes in Communication, Media and Culture; Early Childhood Studies, Education and Human Development; English Language and Linguistics; Performing Arts; Philosophy; Religion, Culture and Ethics; Sports and Coaching.

Not the typical Statistics author. Certainly not the typical Statistics book. Highly recommended.

A reasonably sized book that delivers thoughtful explanations, as promised in the title. On average, each chapter is 15-page long, therefore it can be read while enjoying a cup of tea. And then you can go to bed satisfied that you actually finished a chapter today, and finally understood why they call it the power of a test.

ANOVA seems to form the core of this book, in its various guises and usages. But my favorite chapter is the last one, which introduces the general linear model as an umbrella for most statistical concepts presented in the book. This has been a fresh take on the whole subject for me when I first read it.

I take away one star because the book has no exercises for the readers to sharpen their pencils. The chapters contain some worked examples, but these are not enough for students. So you would need another book for that purpose. Also, this book is very light on probability topics.

'Statistics Explained' stands out as an achievement in teaching and exposition. As the author, Perry Hinton, states in the preface, the book goes behind every statistics formula and perfectly explains the reasoning behind the formula, and unfailingly gives logical steps that tightly follow each other, all of it culminating in a comprehensive justification for each component of every mathematical expression. With all doubts cleared, the reader develops an excellent temper for statistics, and becomes a sophisticated consumer and practitioner of statistics.

I do not recall any other Statistics book I've read executing this approach so well. Nowhere in 'Statistics Explained' will you find a formula presented out of the blue. Instead, you are first invited into a research problem, and then presented with naturally arising questions on how statistics can help. Next you are walked through the evolution and pros and cons of the relevant statistical method. This type of instruction puts the reader's understanding on a scientific basis that is powerful, yet easily accessible. Page after page, I found myself applauding Perry Hinton's success in conveying complex reasoning using simple words and clever examples.

The book has no exercises. But it doesn't need any. The understanding Hinton imparts is so complete that you are sufficiently enthused to apply the methods straightaway in the real world. After about 40 pages my hands were itching to put down the book and pull out my monthly expenditure records to find out their variance, standard deviation and perform 'z' tests. I can't believe I am now writing these once intimidating terms with well-grounded confidence, after reading only 40 pages, that too without much sweat. (I did not use calculus or any software).

I have willingly given in to the temptation and thrill of applying statistics. Thank you Prof Hinton.

I have at least six different statistics texts, each with a "sure fire" way to make statistics clear. This was the only text that made that happen. The logical approach the author takes includes the derivation of formula from one-step to another. Z-scores, an easy to understand concept -- once explained -- was the first step in the evolution to the t-tests and beyond. I have this book as a hardcopy and a Kindle text, the latter for review, the former for more elaborate notes.

This book served me well for my introductory statistics class. It was easy to understand and clarified things that the class text did not. It will be a good reference for when I take advanced statistics.