Statistics [Hardcover]

William Hays (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1136 pages
• Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing; 5 edition (January 2, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0030744679
• ISBN-13: 978-0030744679
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 7.5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #553,366 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Invaluable reference; Not for pleasure reading, May 9, 2003

By 

N. Schweitzer (Phoenix, AZ United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Statistics (Hardcover)

Hays's text is not meant for everyone; hence the mixed reviews. It was not the primary source from which I gained my knowledge of statistics; however it serves as an invaluable reference. Unlike some of the other reviewers, I had little difficulty understanding the material as Hays presented it. Some of the criticisms are points well-taken; for example a lack of annotation in the power tables at the end of the book (which are still decipherable if you know what you're looking at).

This text is for the mathematically inclined-it is not a "how-to" book, rather a "why" book that thoroughly explains the theory behind a variety of popular inferential techniques. If this is the sort of knowledge you are seeking, Hays is the book for you. If you are interested in a more "common-sense" or applied approach, perhaps you should look elsewhere.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Masterpiece, February 11, 2004

By 

Daniel J. Denis (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Statistics (Hardcover)

This text is a true CLASSIC in the field of statistics. It is unique, extremely well-written, and a book you will return to time after time if you are serious about learning and understanding statistics. Hays' unique style is such that in his explanations, he takes you a step back, then two steps forward. While it can be said that some writers on statistics don't really understand the subject themselves (which makes it almost impossible to learn from them), this is definitely not the case with Hays's text. Hays' grasp of statistics is unmatched.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Useful as a reference, not as a book to learn from, December 1, 2002

By 

J. "Words Dance Before my Eyes in a Meani... (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Statistics (Hardcover)

I agree with Van Denburg's evaluation.

I am a graduate student in Psychology, and I find the Hays text mostly illegible. His prose is dense and his explanations rely very heavily on mathematical formulae instead of real-world or logical/verbal descriptions. Furthermore, he falls into the typical "math textbook" pit of giving solutions to only the example problems that are exceptions to what one would usually encounter.

This is especially bad considering that my concentration specializes in statistical inference, and I've studied mathematics through differential equations (including linear algebra, multivariate).

Worse, Hays has a tendency to use different symbols to represent variables compared to other statistical texts (and in some cases, the rest of the world!)

Lastly, the tables that Hays has in the back of his book are not notated. He does not explain what each table represents, or what the x or y axis are. In one case, he has two entries for each lookup in the ANOVA Power of Association (omega squared) (Table XII, page 1032). Nowhere in the table does it mention what these two values are for.

It is only in one paragraph 600 pages earlier, that he explains that the two values are for alpha=0.05 and 0.01 and that n must be equal for both groups!! (page 410)

I am currently relying on several other texts to understand statistics for the social/behaviourial sciences. If you are extremely comfortable with mathematics to describe your behaviourial tests, you may find this book valuable. If you prefer a more descriptive approach, I suggest another one.