Customer Reviews

Statistics For The Terrified (4th Edition)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For those of us with mathmatical weakness, an understandable work on basic statistical methods is a godsend. Having found myself in a graduate level econometrics course, Statistics For the Terrified is rarely out of reach. All too often statstics manuals, texts and instructors speak in tounges not always understood by the uninformed. However, Stats for the Terrified allows the reader to look up concepts and terminolgy and actually understand the explanations. The authors use few formulas to explain concepts, and when mathmatical equations are a necessity, the methods are explained in such a way that the Greek symbols and letters make sense. Indeed, regardless of field, Statistics for the Terrified is helpful in any work which requires statistical anaylysis.

I have taught a basic statistics class at the college level nearly twenty times. Since the students who take the class range from the math major to the nursing and psychology majors, I have seen a great deal of math anxiety. However, I cannot say that I have ever seen a student terrified. Anxious, yes, terrified no. Therefore, when I cracked open this book, my presupposition was that the title is overstated for effect.
That opinion was not changed as I read through the book. It covers all of the topics one considers essential to basic statistics, and to do statistics, one must be able to handle mathematical formulas. The authors place a great deal of emphasis on the fact that mathematical formulas are abbreviations. This is essential to understanding them, as at times mathematics is a very compact language.
While there is a bit more light-heartedness in this book than in other statistics books, I really do not see where it will relax the severely anxious student. In the end, the greatest hurdle to being able to do statistics is realizing that it is a hurdle that can be leapt over. No amount of cutesy dialog or cartoons can substitute for clear explanations of what the symbols mean. Some of my non-traditional students have told me that they find barely relevant cartoons to be a distraction at best and an annoyance at worst. I have no plans to adopt this book as a textbook or ever recommend it for self-study. The explanations are too brief and there are not enough worked examples.

I used this text in my undergraduate staistics course for my B.S. in Psychology. I was dreading the course because I barely made it out od high school math and that was 17 years ago! But the book got me through it. I actually got several books along with it that were basic in case I needed back-up perspective. I found them all hard to understand except this text. I founf is clear and step by step, just what I needed. This is a great text if you want to pick up basic stats and your atrrified.

I have used this book in class for several years and it is highly popular with students. True, the typos can be a nuisance at times, but it can also be used to check who is really following the class... The book is very comprehensive and yet the concepts are not too simplistic; that's probably the strongest appeal of this book. Also, I enjoy it because the emphasis is on descriptive statistics, and not so much on the inferential aspects of the subject (when was the last time you had to pick some objects blindfolded from a bag?)
Well written and very accessible, it is probably the most to the point book you can find, pound for pound, on the subject. Anybody who knows a better book, please mention it in your review next time instead of simply criticizing!

this is a fabulous book for non-mathematicians - if you are working working on a PhD in physics or mathematics then you will not need it but if you are business school major who want to try out little un-authenticated statistics then try this book - I am serious this is a easy to read book - it does not go into details but skims the tops extremely well and we know that the cream is in the top (lol)

Loved the book. Easy to understand.-- Had to order from another vendor. We were never able to get the book from Hippo books.

In this small book the author managed to explain statistical concepts in the way that no other book that I looked at could do on hundreds of pages. You will definitely learn a great deal of statistics. The author does not overwhelm, is consistent with his presentation, and EXPLAINS. That final touch, simple explanation (in the language anyone can understand) is what's missing from all other books.

Great choice and don't worry about the typos. When was the last time you picked a perfectly edited book?

This book is averagely written in an explanatory context (given that the author is definitely a mathematician and not and English graduate (typos, spellings etc)). I have found it useful in grasping the basics of statistics.

However as a member of the statistically terrified population I was appalled that so many mistakes existed in the exercises. Really unfair when you are unsure your answer is correct or not, i.e. a student of the book!!!!!

The Author should be afraid, I am now 'less' afraid of statistics, however terrified of all statisticians' attempts at literature!

Overall not worth the money to buy, maybe borrow from a library at best!

(Postgraduate Researcher, PhD Pending)

I used this book for a graduate level research and statistics class. Some of the explanations are done very nicely. But some of the explanations on the more advanced concepts aren't explained very well. The author isn't good at explaining the math equations used in statistics, in my opinion. A few examples would have been nice also. The author was trying to keep it simple and not add anything that would cause the reader to stress out over understanding it. This book was suggested by a professor who thinks it is good. I would not recommend it though. My main complaint (beyond the typos) is that the statistical equations are presented but not adequately explained. Several concepts were used in explanations without first defining the concept. I find it really annoying when a "basic introduction" uses advanced terminology without defining it first. I shouldn't have to use another book to understand a "basic introduction". I have found this problem in many other introduction to statistics books. It is hard to explain equations to non-mathematical audiences.

My advisor recommended this book and it is written in simple language that I can understand! It will be valuable to me when I am ready to pursue my PhD degree!