Elementary Statistics: Picturing the World (3rd Edition) (Hardcover)

by Ron Larson (Author), Elizabeth Farber (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Every aspect of Elementary Statistics has been carefully crafted to help readers learn statistics. The Third Edition features many updates and revisions that place increased emphasis on interpretation of results and critical thinking over calculations. Chapter topics include probability, discrete probability distributions, normal probability distributions, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, correlation and regression, chi-square tests and the f-distribution, and nonparametric tests. For readers who want a comprehensive, step-by-step, flexible introduction to statistics.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 736 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall; 3 edition (January 14, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0131483161
• ISBN-13: 978-0131483163
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 8.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #111,937 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well organized, but inconsistent level. Elementary?, February 24, 2007

By	MagicSkip "magicskip" (Marriottsville, MD) - See all my reviews

I was assigned this book for teaching my 100-level college intro-stats course. It is much better organized than the previous book I used, but it isn't as thorough. Some topics, such as calculating a median and other percentiles using depth on an ordered list, are simply omitted in this book.

It seems that some topics are omitted or glossed over because they might be too complex for "Elementary" statistics. On the other hand, the more complex topics in the book, such as hypothesis testing -- a topic that students consistently have a hard time understanding -- are not covered in enough depth.

Our students are sold this book in a package with videos on CD, a study guide, and a couple other things. This package is, in my opinion, worthless to a student in a class. They may be valuable to someone teaching themselves, or to a student in an online class, but for a live class, I think they are a waste of money.

The CD videos show a teacher working through the topics and some of the problems in the book. However, the teacher seems to have, (hands flail) y'know, a highly repetitive, (hands flail) y'know, (hands flail) vocabulary (hands flail), and it's (hands flail) y'know (hands flail) really hard to (hands flail) y'know, watch him (hands flail) y'know, teach. Like his hands have a nervous tic or something. I'm sure I have my own quirks in class, but this guy... his hands are something else.

All in all, I think the book is pretty good, with solid examples, well-highlighted definitions and key points. The chapter exercises are good in that they start VERY easy and progress through up to reasonably difficult, while staying within the limits of the text.

I told my department head: I like the book, but I recommend it without the bonus materials (and associated costs!).

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars :sigh:, May 26, 2007

By	B. Crawford "b/C" (L.A.) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Elementary Statistics was the book required for my class this semester and let me tell you - IT SUCKS!

This book pulls numbers out of thin air constantly and instead of telling you how to apply (or come up with) a formula it will just say something like "use a calculator to find ______"

I honestly learned more from google than from this book, and can't figure out why someone would make this required reading material for any class.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Get your act together!, February 25, 2007

By	Scott D. Hann "Scott" (Tucson, AZ) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This text is in its third edition, and the NUMEROUS wrong answers in back of the book still haven't been corrected!