Even You Can Learn Statistics: A Guide For Everyone Who Has Ever Been Afraid Of Statistics - Softcover

David M. Levine isone of the world’s leading innovators in statistics education. He isProfessor Emeritus of Statistics and Computer Information Systems at Bernard M.Baruch College (CUNY), and co-author of several best-selling books, including Statisticsfor Managers using Microsoft Excel, Quality Management, and Six Sigma for Green Belts andChampions. Instructional designer DavidF. Stephan pioneered the classroom use of technology, and is aleader in making Excel more accessible to statistics students. He hasco-authored several textbooks with David M. Levine.

Introduction

The Even You Can Learn Statistics Owners Manual

In today's world, knowing how to apply statistics is more important than ever. Even You Can Learn Statistics: The Easy to Use Guide for Everyone Who Has Ever Been Afraid of Statistics will teach you the basic concepts that provide that understanding. You will also learn the most commonly used statistical methods and be able to practice those methods using a statistical calculator or a spreadsheet program. Please read the rest of this introduction

so that you can become familiar with the distinctive features of this book. Be sure to visit the Web site for this book (www.prenticehall.com/youcanlearnstatistics), which contains free downloads and other material to support your learning.

Mathematics Is Always Optional!

Never mastered higher mathematics—or generally fearful of math? Not to worry, because in Even You Can Learn Statistics, you will find that every concept is explained in plain English, without the use of higher mathematics or mathematical symbols. Interested in the mathematical foundations behind statistics? Even You Can Learn Statistics includes EQUATION BLACKBOARDS, standalone sections that present the equations behind statistical methods and complement the main material. Either way, you can learn statistics.

Learning with the Concept-Interpretation Approach

Even You Can Learn Statistics uses a Concept-Interpretation approach to help you learn statistics. For each important statistical concept, you will first find a

CONCEPT, a plain-language definition that uses no complicated mathematical terms, followed by an INTERPRETATION that fully explains the concept and its importance to statistics. When necessary, these sections also review the misconceptions and the errors people make when trying to apply the concept.

For simpler concepts, an EXAMPLES section lists real-life examples or applications of the statistical concepts. For more advanced concepts, WORKED-OUT PROBLEMS provide a complete solution to a statistical problem—including actual spreadsheet and calculator results—that illustrate how you can apply the concept to your own problems.

Practicing Statistics While You Learn Statistics

To enhance your learning of statistics, you should always review the WORKED-OUT PROBLEMS. If you want to practice what you have just learned, you can use the optional CALCULATOR KEYS and SPREADSHEET SOLUTION sections, which help you apply a statistical calculator or spreadsheet program to statistical analyses.

CALCULATOR KEYS sections give you the keystroke-by-keystroke steps to perform statistical analysis on a Texas Instruments statistical calculator from the TI-83 or TI-84 families, including TI-83 Plus and TI-84 Plus models. (You can adapt many sections for use with other TI statistical calculators—such as any model from the TI-86, TI-89, or Voyage 200 families—that have different keypads and arrangements of statistical functions.)

SPREADSHEET SOLUTION sections provide instructions for using the statistical capabilities of Microsoft Excel and identify files that you can download from the Even You Can Learn Statistics Web site that contain complete spreadsheets that you can use as models for your own problem solving.

If you plan to use either of these sections, review Appendix A for the conventions, software settings, and assumptions used for these sections.

In-Chapter Aids

As you read a chapter, look for Important Point icons that highlight key explanations. Download the data files from the Web site for this book (www.prenticehall.com/youcanlearnstatistics) so that you may examine the data under study in the Worked-out Problems. Even if you do not plan to use a calculator or a spreadsheet, look at the actual examples of their outputs to become familiar with how statistical results are reported.

Interested in Math? Then look for this icon throughout the book. And if you are not interested in math, remember that all of the passages with this icon can be skipped without losing any comprehension of the statistical methods presented.

End-of-Chapter Features

At the end of most chapters of Even You Can Learn Statistics, you will find these features that you can review to reinforce your learning.

Important Equations

A list of the important equations discussed in the chapter. Even if you are not interested in the mathematics of the statistical methods and have skipped the EQUATION BLACKBOARDS in the book, you can use these lists for reference and later study.

One-Minute Summary

A quick review of the significant topics of a chapter in outline form. When appropriate, the summaries also help guide you to make the right decisions about applying statistics to the data you seek to analyze.

Test Yourself

Explore how much you have retained with a set of questions that enable you to review and test yourself (with answers provided) on the concepts presented in a chapter.

Summary

Even You Can Learn Statistics can help you whether you are studying statistics as part of a formal course or just brushing up on your knowledge of statistics for a specific analysis. Be sure to visit the Web site for this book (www.prenticehall.com/youcanlearnstatistics). You are also invited to contact the authors via e-mail at david_levine@baruch.cuny.edu if you have any questions about this book.

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