Description
Book SynopsisThis book is a guide to the practical application of statistics in data analysis as typically encountered in the physical sciences. It is primarily addressed at students and professionals who need to draw quantitative conclusions from experimental data. Although most of the examples are taken from particle physics, the material is presented in a sufficiently general way as to be useful to people from most branches of the physical sciences. The first part of the book describes the basic tools of data analysis: concepts of probability and random variables, Monte Carlo techniques, statistical tests, and methods of parameter estimation. The last three chapters are somewhat more specialized than those preceding, covering interval estimation, characteristic functions, and the problem of correcting distributions for the effects of measurement errors (unfolding).
Trade Review"Glen Cowan is a particle physicist who seems to have got everything right. Results are stated clearly, without mathematical proof but with enough explanation to satisfy the physicist's need to understand not only how, but also why...Those teaching an advanced undergraduate or graduate course in statistics or physicists will find this a good textbook...Do not be fooled by the fact that it does not have the "textbook look" - the exercises have been made available separately on a Web site. " CERN Courier
Table of ContentsPreface ; Notation ; 1. Fundamental Concepts ; 2. Examples of Probability Functions ; 3. The Monte Carlo Method ; 4. Statistical Tests ; 5. General Concepts of Parameter Estimation ; 6. The Method of Maximum Likelihood ; 7. The Method of Least Squares ; 8. The Method of Moments ; 9. Statistical Errors, Confidence Intervals and Limits ; 10. Characteristic Functions and Related Examples ; 11. Unfolding ; Bibliography ; Index
