Fundamental Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences (Hardcover)

by David C. Howell (Author)
Key Phrases: seeing statistics, lie scale, multiple comparison procedures, Thomson Learning, All Rights Reserved, Hypothesis Tests Applied (more...)

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Product Description
David Howell's practical approach focuses on the context of statistics in behavioral research, with an emphasis on looking before leaping; investigating the data before jumping into a test. This provides you with an understanding of the logic behind the statistics: why and how certain methods are used rather than just doing techniques by rote. Learn faster and understand more because Howell's texts moves you beyond number crunching, allowing you to discover the meaning of statistical results and how they relate to the research questions being asked.

About the Author
David C. Howell is a professor emeritus and former chair of the psychology department at the University of Vermont. Professor Howell's primary area of research is in statistics and experimental methods. He is also the author of STATISTICS FOR THE BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES, currently in a Sixth Edition (Wadsworth, 2007), and the ENCYCLOPEDIA OF STATISTICS IN BEHAVIOR SCIENCE (2005) with Brian Everitt. Before retiring he frequently served as consultant with other faculty, both in the psychology department and in departments as disparate as Geology and Animal Sciences, and brings those experiences to this endeavor. Professor Howell's other interests include computing and the World Wide Web, and how technology affects communication, teaching, and research.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 608 pages
• Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing; 6 edition (February 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0495099007
• ISBN-13: 978-0495099000
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #40,449 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An outstanding introductory text in statistics., April 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Fundamental Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences (Business Statistics) (Hardcover)

This text is the most clearly written and useful of four different introductory statistics texts that I have examined. Its emphasis on insight rather than rote learning of formulae makes the subject easily understood and retained.

This book is a "keeper".

The author stresses the use of computers discusses several statistics programs available. He also thoughtfully provides exercise data for input to several a computer program. It is unfortunate, however, that he failed to mention the most powerful of these programs on the market today. I hope that he will examine this in future editions.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars superbly-written and serious intorduction, January 23, 2001

By	theskeptic "theskeptic" (Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fundamental Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences (with CD-ROM) (Hardcover)

I've been using the 3rd edition for several years now, and I just think it's an extraordinarily clear, concise, and well-written book. Howell is better at presenting the basic statistical concepts (of ANOVA, for example) than any other author I've seen.

Other introductory books (such as Runyon's "Fundamentals of Behavioral Statistics") may provide more advanced treatments or cover more material, but in general they end up being long-winded and unfocused. Howell's book is crisp.

And in case you're wondering about the title, statistical methods for the behavioral sciences are not different than statistical methods in any other quantitative discipline. It's just that Howell draws his examples from psychology, sociology, etc., and may make mention of some of the conventions used by researchers in these fields.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A rare jewel, December 22, 2000

By	William Krause (Great Neck, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Fundamental Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences (with CD-ROM) (Hardcover)

This may be the single best textbook I have ever used, or it may just seem that way because of the difficulty most stat textbooks have in explaining their concepts. Unfortunately, I only discovered it after two semesters of incoherent text books and bad teaching; it was only later, through his book, that I got the entire picture. Howell starts with the "why?" of statistical tests (necssary, but often not done), takes you through the equations relatively painlessly, and provides realistic commentary on actual uses, strengths and weaknesses, and controversies surrounding statistical techniques. I now tutor in statistics (really), and I just rely on Howell for the simplest and best method of explication. Now, if only he wrote an advanced text...