Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics

by Salkind, Neil J.

• ISBN13: 9780761916215
• ISBN10: 0761916210
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-06-01
• Publisher: Sage Pubns

Summary

Written for people who want to learn or brush-up on the basics of statistics but question their abilities, this book offers a step-by-step introduction to the topic. The book begins with an introduction to the language of statistics and then covers descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. Throughout, the author offers readers:- Difficulty Rating Index for each chapter's material- Tips for doing and thinking about a statistical technique- Top tens for everything from the best ways to create a graph to the most effective techniques for data collection- Steps that break techniques down into a clear sequence of procedures- SPSS tips for executing each major statistical technique- Practice exercises at the end of each chapter, followed by worked out solutions.The book concludes with a statistical software sampler and a description of the best Internet sites for statistical information and data resources. Readers also have access to a website for downloading data that they can use to practice additional exercises from the book. Students and researchers will appreciate the book's unhurried pace and thorough, friendly presentation.

Table of Contents

PART I
Yippee! I'm in Statistics	1	(4)
Statistics or Sadistics? It's Up to You	5	(16)
PART II
Sigma Freud and Descriptive Statistics	19	(2)
Means to an End: Computing and Understanding Averages	21	(17)
Vive la Difference: Understanding Variability	38	(15)
A Picture Really Is Worth a Thousand Words	53	(32)
Ice Cream and Crime: Computing Correlation Coefficients	85	(24)
Predicting Who'll Win the Super Bowl: Using Linear Regression	109	(22)
PART III
Taking Chances for Fun and Profit	129	(2)
Hypotheticals and You: Testing Your Questions	131	(16)
Are Your Curves Normal? Probability and Why It Counts	147	(24)
PART IV
Significantly Different: Using Inferential Statistics	169	(2)
Significantly Significant: What It Means for You and Me	171	(20)
t(ea) for Two: Tests Between the Means of Different Groups	191	(15)
t(ea) for Two (Again): Tests Between the Means of Related Groups	206	(14)
Two Groups Too Many? Try Analysis of Variance	220	(20)
Cousins or Just Good Friends? Testing Relationships Using the Correlation Coefficient	240	(15)
What to Do When You're Not Normal: Chi-Square and Some Other Nonparametric Tests	255	(13)
Some Other (Important) Statistical Procedures You Should Know About	268	(7)
A Statistical Software Sampler	275	(14)
PART V
Ten Things You'll Want to Know and Remember	287	(2)
The Ten Best Internet Sites for Statistics Stuff	289	(6)
The Ten Commandments of Data Collection	295	(4)
Appendix A: SPSS in Less Than 30 Minutes	299	(32)
Appendix B: Tables	331	(14)
Appendix C: Data Sets	345	(20)
Glossary	365	(8)
Index	373	(12)
About the Author	385