David S Mo

The Basic Practice of Statistics- Third Edition

1 stars (A jumble of deviations) - This book was poorly planned. To a student learning statistics, this book can be very confusing. Contrary to traditional textbooks with a review problems section at the end of each chapter, the problems in this book are intermingled throughout the chapter! Therefore meat of this book - explanations of concepts - gets disbursed over many pages. This makes it difficult to outline the important concepts for reviewing. Margins and empty spaces are cluttered with irrelevant photography and trivia, making it difficult to concentrate. Another annoyance is that the author stuffs "cursory information" that doesn't apply until later chapters. A person trying to grasp the main points is suddenly confronted with an incomplete and unfinished idea followed by a tiny footnote saying "you can skip this page until Chapter 22." It would be a great help if the author included more graphs and pictorial representations so that the reader can visualize the concepts. If this book is required for a class, you should get the most from the professor's lecture or else you're in serious trouble! 4 stars (A Decent Primer for Statistics) - Before you use this book, make sure you understand the author's purpose: "Although the book is elementary in the level of mathematics required and in the statistical procedures presented, it aims to give students both an understanding of the main ideas of statistics and useful skills for working with data" (Preface, pp xiv-xv). The key point here is "elementary in the level of mathematics required." Essentially, this is a math-lite version of statistics. With that in mind, the author did a decent job of passing on a working knowledge of statistics (I'll bet all the math in the book could fit on one 5x8 card). Also, the book has TONS of examples. I'd say that at least half of the text is just the author working through real-world examples. So, if you have trouble understanding the statistical concepts the author...
W H Freeman - Company :: Probability & statistics :: Science&Mathematics :: Probability & Statistics - General :: Mathematics :: David S Moore :: :: The Basic Practice of Statistics- Third Edition

Introduction to the Practice of Statistics Introduction to the Practice of Statistics

4 stars (Very good for first-time learner of statistics) - I agree with the previous reviewer Jason --- this book is very good in helping a first-time learner understand statistics applied to real-life situations. Usually university teachers don't make good choices for course textbooks but in this case, this book is absolutely the most correct choice. 5 stars (take another look) - This introductory statistics book is unlike any other I read, so it is understandable why it received negative reviews. First off, it deals with "the practice" of statistics, so don't expect mathematical explanations of the statistical analyses presented. Second, it thoroughly explains the conceptual basis and applied aspects of statistics, so don't be surprised if it is a bit more wordy or repetitive than other statistics books. Reenforcement is necessary when learning a new language, and it doesn't assume mathematical formulas are understandable without explanations. Its highlight is its coverage of collecting data. Most statistics books don't even mention how data is collected, or should be collected; they only show you how to analyze it. General principles of sampling and experimentation are licidly covered, as are the implications of using these two fundamentally different approaches to research. The second strong point of this book is its general overview of statistics. It shows how different analyses are used for different types of data (categorical vs. quantitative), although the general premise is the same--relationship between variables. Finally, it makes a connection between real data and theoretical distributions. Most statistics books start off saying, "assume the data follow a normal distribution" but real data never does. Moore and McCabe explains how we can use a mathematical formula to model our real data, and the advantages and limitations of doing so. This is the bridge necessary to place the theoretical world of probability and mathematical statistics into the real w...
W H Freeman - Company :: Probability & statistics :: Science&Mathematics :: Probability & Statistics - General :: Mathematics :: Mathematical statistics :: George P McCabe :: David S Mo :: Introduction to the Practice of Statistics (Introduction to the Practice of Statistics)