Mind on Statistics

by Jessica M. Utts and Robert F. Heckard

Book Overview

Learn why statistics are important and how you can use statistical principles and methods to make better decisions in your professional and daily life with Utts/Heckard's MIND ON STATISTICS, 6th... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0538733489
• ISBN13: 9780538733489
• Release Date: January 2011
• Publisher: Cengage Learning
• Length: 752 Pages
• Weight: 3.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 8.8" x 10.8"

Customer Reviews

Great stats book

This book is excellent and provides great real-life examples and applications that help retain information

ita a awesome book teaches basic concepts and then goes to a higher level

the best thing abt this book is that it teaches basics with simple examples,then takes to next level,so from beginners to expert point of view concepts are clear.

Great Service

Book came in a timely fashion, was ture to posting, in very good condition. Pleasure working with the seller.

The Book Really Does Turn on Your Mind

Mind on Statistics is probably one of the few books on the market which seeks to teach statistical concepts as opposed to the mindless manipulation of mathematical formulae and computation with recipes. Only one other book currently in print: Statistics, Concepts and Controversies by David S. Moore, comes close to it. Both books are very well written, but Mind on Statistics goes one step further; it actually tries to make statistics interesting to learn, and it succeeds. The key merits of the book are its tips on using Minitab and Excel to perform statistical calculations, and its insistence on thinking and reasoning when using any of the tools of statistics. Chapter One of the book is highly recommended, as it goes into the uses and limitations of statistical tools, especially inference. The book also presents several fundamental rules to the student, the most important one being the Fundamental Rule for Inference, which essentially asks the critical question- is the sample one has taken appropriate for the question(s) one asks? One can not infer from sample to population if the sample is nothing at all like the population. For each topic presented in each chapter, the student is encouraged to 'turn on your mind' and apply the lesson learned. Each chapter also contains at least twenty or more example problems which apply the topics presented. An accompanying CD-ROM containing highly useful teaching applets also helps to drive home key concepts. The CD-ROM also contains supplemental problems. Another good point about the book is that it does not assume that the reader has access to any fancy statistical software, such as JMP, SPSS, SAS or even Minitab, though it does provides tips for Minitab. The authors also realize the ubiquity of MS Office and Excel, and take advantage of this by including Excel tips. This is helpful, as more than a few people are not aware of the statistical capability that is already available in their computers with MS Office Excel (or even MS Works Excel). The book also has sources for further reading on topics presented in each chapter. The only major drawback to the text is its failure to include a checklist of key questions the intelligent consumer of statistics should ask at the end of each chapter. The only other minor demerit of the text is its failure to present all of the possible reasons for a correlation between two variables in Chapter 5 of the text- Relationships Between Quantitative Variables. Overall, the book rates high in the usability and comprehension categories, and manages to be a fun read at points. However, the text still requires the student to do some mathematical calculations, but these instances are not too taxing. I liked the book, and have bought one copy for my office and plan to buy one to keep as a lending copy. In passing, one of the authors, Jessica M. Utts, has written another statistics book in a similar vein titled Seeing Through Statistics. That text also empha

Very basic and easy

I liked the book as it is for a total beginner. Takes you through concepts of Statistics with very good case studies. Highly recommend.