Elementary Statistics (with CD-ROM and InfoTrac) (Hardcover)

~ Robert R. Johnson (Author), Patricia J. Kuby (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Text provides coverage of elementary statistics, presenting it as a tool for describing and understanding the world around us. Includes new activities and exercises. Previous edition: c2000.

About the Author

Robert R. Johnson is Professor of Mathematics Emeritus and a former chair of the Mathematics Department at Monroe Community College. He received his B.S. from SUNY Cortland and his M.A. from University of Northern Iowa, both in mathematics; and has studied statistics at University of Iowa and Rochester Institute of Technology. He is the co-author of JUST THE ESSENTIALS OF ELEMENTARY STATISTICS, Ninth Edition. Professor Johnson has given several presentations about the "teaching of statistics" and the use of MINITAB® in teaching statistics at various conferences and workshops. He has been using computers and MINITAB for over 30 years to aid in teaching statistics. He is also an active advocate for writing across the curriculum. Organizing the Beyond the Formula Statistics Conferences for teachers of Introductory Statistics has been a passion since 1997.

Patricia J. Kuby is Associate Professor of Mathematics at Monroe Community College in Rochester, New York. Prior to coming to MCC, she taught at the Rochester Institute of Technology and worked as a statistician and programmer at General Motors. While at RIT, Patricia received the Excellence in Adjunct Teaching Award. Patricia is co-author of JUST THE ESSENTIALS OF ELEMENTARY STATISTICS, Ninth Edition. She has also written the accompanying Instructor's Resource Manual and Statistical Tutor. Patricia is an active advocate for incorporating MINITAB® and CyberStats into online and on-campus statistics classes and has given presentations on each of these software packages. She also received the Monroe Community College 2004/2005 Writing Across the Curriculum Outstanding Faculty Award for the integration of writing components into her statistics courses. An MCC graduate, Patricia received a B.S. in Mathematics and an M.S. in Quality and Applied Statistics from Rochester Institute of Technology.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 800 pages
• Publisher: Duxbury Press; 9 edition (July 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0534399150
• ISBN-13: 978-0534399153
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #691,196 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid, but not spectacular textbook, January 6, 2005

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

I was assigned this book for use in teaching an introductory statistics course. The CD is quite good, containing a PowerPoint presentation outline for each chapter. It also has a section of excellent examples, but it only goes through the first three chapters, which is unfortunate.

Each chapter begins with a "Chapter Case Study", which I found to be worthless. The text and examples in each section & chapter are pretty good, about what would be expected from a textbook. What is different is the "Technology Instructions" inserted throughout, for doing stats with Minitab, Excel XP, and the TI-83 Plus calculator (which my school requires). It's needed, because the TI-83 manual is not very good.

Where the book could be better, for my class, is in describing how a student can verify his/her own work. Too many times students make a small mistake early in a problem, which leads to a non-sensical answer -- if the student stops to evaluate the meaning of it (for example, a probability greater than 1). Particularly in hypothesis testing, students frequently build the null and alternative hypotheses backwards, and then end up with a conclusion statement that clearly contradicts the data. While this book is very clear about a five-step approach to *doing* the test, it should have included a sixth step -- verifying that your answer makes sense!

Also, some of the problems and examples have errors, as well as vaguely worded questions. This seems to be (unfortunately) typical of all textbooks -- or maybe I'm just jaded.

Overall, it's a pretty decent book for a lower-level college statistics course. I would have given it 3.5 stars on its own. The CD is worth the extra half-star. If the CD examples went beyond chapter 3 through the whole book it would get five.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A Disorganized and Confusing Textbook., August 31, 2005

By	Math Student (CA, USA) - See all my reviews

Explanations of concepts are constantly interrupted mid-paragraph by various secondary explanations, questions and diagrams that do not tie in well with the central concept that was being explained. I find it very difficult to follow when each page is scattered with little side projects for the student to try with the cd-rom or with a calculator. Just glancing at any page it is hard to find the heart of the material. I much prefer a text that focuses on straight forward explanations of concepts rather than what seems to me as mere gimmicks.