Description
Book Synopsis
In the
Second Edition of this bestselling textbook, the authors use real-world examples to introduce basic principles in statistics with no prior knowledge or experience assumed. With an emphasis on describing concepts, showing through example and illustrating points with graphs and displays, this book will provide readers with a step-by-step introduction to using statistics.
Chapters address the following questions:
- Why bother learning statistics in the first place and are they relevant to real life?
- How do I make sensible tables and informative graphs?
- What are descriptive and inferential statistics and how are they used?
- What are regression and correlation anyway?
Trade Review
The authors of Beginning Statistics have written an ideal text for those students who are unfamiliar with and often petrified about statistical analysis. They have written a book that is comprehensive and which is made accessible by a writing style that eases the reader through explanations of complex ideas and uses lots of examples and exercises to facilitate understanding. They should be congratulated for writing such a clear but rigorous book.
-- Alan Bryman
This book very neatly steps from definition to worked example and interpretation with the writing lively and clear. The first edition has been my ‘go to’ jargon buster textbook whenever I or a student need statistical language or calculations explaining transparently and I welcome the second edition with its updated examples.
-- Paul Norman
Simple, brilliant, thoroughly entertaining – a logical and succinct introduction to essential social statistics pitched at the right level for beginners. The latest edition has several extended spotlights including a comprehensive annotation of statistics and its application in the real ‘big data’ world, illustrative examples based on recent data, and most of all reflective learning outcomes for each chapter. I am convinced that this book is an indispensable resource for all under- and post-graduate students and social science researchers, highly recommended!
-- Sabu S. Padmadas
Table of Contents
Introduction: Are Statistics Relevant to Real Life? Data and Table Manners Graphs and Charts Averages and Percentiles Spreads Transforming Data The Normal Distribution From Samples to Populations Getting Confident Fun with Proportions How to Decide How to Decide More Tricky Decisions Correlation and Regression Analysing Tables with Categorical Data Conclusion Appendix 1 Statistical Tables Appendix 2 Answers to Practice Questions Appendix 3 Algebra and Mathematical Notation Explained
