Book Description

Statistics for the Utterly Confused is your user-friendly introduction to elementary statistics, designed especially for non-math majors

Required courses in statistics are cause for alarm among more than 500,000 undergraduates in such disciplines as nursing, allied health, pre-law, pre-medicine, business administration, and criminal justice. This super-accessible book demystifies the dreaded subject for non-math majors.

Statistics for the Utterly Confusedprovides a logical, step-by-step approach to introductory statistics, stripping away confusing material and clarifying key concepts without long, theoretical discussion and includes:

• Handy icons throughout the text offer easy visual aids
• 500 self-testing questions
• Technology Corner sections explain the latest software
• Provides more than 200 examples and solved problems

Reviews (29)

Statistics for the Utterly Confused
I am a student at Morehead State University and Business Statistics is one of the most difficult classes in my course requirements until I discovered the book, Statistics for the Utterly Confused. The layout of the book was very thorough and easy to read. I truly appreciated the examples given throughout each chapter. The 'quick tips' and 'its a wrap' sections of the book helped me make sure that I understood the key points that were discussed! I would advise anyone who is having a difficult time with statistics to definitely purchase this book. It was a great investment that helped out tremendously!

A Great Investment for Business Stats Students
I was "utterly confused" until I purchased this book. However, when I followed the instructions on how to complete problems provided by Dr. Jaisingh I gained a greater understanding of statistics. Dr. Jaisingh did a wonderful job of putting this book together. It is easy to read and the problems are almost self-explanatory. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who has to take Business Statistics. You did a great job Dr. Jaisingh, I was very impressed.

Recommended
For me, more revelant than "Stats for Dummies", the Utterly Confused stats book is more focused toward business stats. I found the Cliffs book a bit stiff, Dummies too loose and Utterly confused just about right. At least it helped decipher the Business Stats text book I was trying to wrap my arms around.

There's no substitute for a Stats course, and the utterly confused stats book should help ease one into the lingo and nomenclature rather than suffer a head-on crash with syllabus and curriculum.

Don't take statistics without it.
I took a statistics correspondence course for credit. The study guide made no sense to me. I finally got online and found this book. I was hesitant, because like the computer instructions you get, Statistic instructors think they are dummying it down for us but are only dummying it down for them. I was pleasantly surprised. I loved the quesions at the end. You are able to apply the knowledge immediately and get feedback. I received an A in the course, and not from the expensive study guide that I bought that was supposed to help me pass.
Any average person who is required to take statistics should get this book. If it helped me, it will help anyone. Thanks Dr. Jaisingh

Simple and Concise
I bought the book looking for something to assist in prepping people for 6 Sigma training in the statistics of analyze phase. Many people have been out of school for a long time or never got into the statistics of 6 sigma before. The goal was to find a primer to help them over the hump before the training.

I found this book to he helpful to me, and have to test it on someone less familar with statistics.

What I liked about it is that it covered 90% of the topics I needed, ANOVA, multi-variate statistics, DOE, and non-parametrics are not included. It did provide a clear, concise description of the topics in a manner that should not lose non-mathematicans. It is not rigorous like a text book, but does a descent job of explaining things in lay language while attempting to bridge the gap between lay language and more correct useage.

My search was not exhustive, but I like this book, and I know it helped one co-worker understand the basics in her college stats course.

Where I found it a little weak is in describing the mathematical notations used (summation signs, etc.). It could have been a little stronger at translating the statistics in to practical useage in the real world. ... Read more

Book Description

This worldwide best-selling business statistics text teaches students how to apply statistics to real business problems through the author's unique three-step approach to problem solving. Students learn to IDENTIFY the right technique by focusing on the problem objective and data type. They then learn to COMPUTE the statistics either by hand, using Excel, or using MINITAB. Finally, they INTERPRET the results in the context of the problem. Keller's approach enhances student comprehension as well as practical skills. The book offers maximum flexibility to instructors wishing to teach concepts by hand or with the computer, or by using both hand and computer methods. ... Read more

Book Description

This market leading text offers a solid, comprehensive, applications-oriented approach. Written by authors who are well-known and highly regarded in the field, the text provides sound methodological development. The discussion and development of each technique is presented in an application setting, with the statistical results providing insights to decisions and solutions to problems. Statistics for Business and Economics, 8e offers proven accuracy that has led instructors to adopted it simply for its superior examples and exercises alone. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Best beginner's book on statistics
If you have no clue about statistics, then this is the best book your money can money. It is crystal clear.
However, if you've already taken statistics, you might find this book to be too basic.

An Excellent Book for Introductory Statistics
I only have the fifth edition of this book, but it is probably similar to this edition. I used this book, when I was teaching statistics many years ago. The book is very clear and it explains each statistical concept very thoroughly.

As an online statistics tutor, I find myself referring to it all the time. It has all of the topics that are normally covered in a first course in statistics. It also has some very good chapters on elective topics such as nonparametrics, sample surveys, and quality control. I took many courses in these subjects in undergraduate and graduate school, and I find that this book is a good review for some of the things I've forgotten.

I have many statistics books both elementary and advanced. This is one of only two elementary books that I would purchase again (my teacher's edition is losing the binding!).

It is probably the most complete book on statistics that I have ever read at this level. I would certainly recommend this book to anybody who is taking statistics for the first time. I would also recommend this book to statistics majors who plan to go into teaching and need a good review text.

A Very Helpful Book
This is a definately worthwhile learning tool which can aid anyone who is attempting to tackle statistics for the first time. The methods and theories are concise, direct, and most of all, clearly stated. The authors bring you step by step through each procedure and then offer exercises to demonstrate the process while giving you the confidence to go on.

This book was puchased midway through the semester. At that time I was struggling to maintain a C average. With the help of this book I was able to close the semester with an 89% average.

This book is easy to understand.
After taking this course for the second time, I found that this book really explained concepts well. I had trouble learning statistics the first time, but this book adds real-life applications making it easy to learn why it works the way it does. If you are hesitant or jittery about this class...relax. This book will make your life easier.

Favoured Statistics Text by Public Health Masters Students
I only have the 4th edition of this book. I showed it, along with several others, to MPH students and asked them to select the book they would most like to use for their studies and as a reference. This book was the unanimous selection, I suspect because of its clarity and accessibility, even though it is not specifically written for public health practitioners. The only drawback for those of us in the developing world is the price, which puts it out of range for many of our students. ... Read more

Book Description

Highly praised for its clarity and great examples, Weiers's text takes an informal, student-oriented approach to fundamental statistical concepts. Non-technical terminology is used to describe statistical concepts, which are presented in the context of contemporary applications and student experience. Realizing that many business students are intimidated by this course, Weiers provides numerous learning aids and interesting applications drawn from real-world experience common to many students. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

The best statistics book ever
Finally a statistics book that isn't just a math book with no practical implication.

This book really helped me at my job to make decision calculations. ... Read more

Book Description

This market-leading book offers a readable introduction to the statistical analysis of multivariate observations. Its overarching goal is to provide readers with the knowledge necessary to make proper interpretations and select appropriate techniques for analyzing multivariate data.Chapter topics include aspects of multivariate analysis, matrix algebra and random vectors, sample geometry and random sampling, the multivariate normal distribution, inferences about a mean vector, comparisons of several multivariate means, multivariate linear regression models, principal components, factor analysis and inference for structured covariance matrices, canonical correlation analysis, and discrimination and classification.For experimental scientists in a variety of disciplines. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

A Students Review
First: I must prefix this by saying that I am majoring in the Mathematical and Computer Sciences.

This semester I decided to take a class that happened to use this text as its source. I have been extremely pleased with it: the theoretical work is excellent, the proofs are thourough, the exercises are both good and cover a broad variety of difficulties, and the tables on the CD provide excellent experience in analyzing real world data.

A couple of things to keep in mind before you purchase this book, however:

1) A good background in linear algebra and basic statistics is highly recommended and virtually necessary to interpret this book. Remembering the knowledge gleaned from "Sequences and Series" (often taught in Calculus II) will also prove useful. The text is good, but it is often nontrivial.

2) Some kind of software that does multivariate analysis (and if nothing else, will find eigenvalues and orthonormal eigenvectors) is necessary to get the most out of this book. The software package SAS is touched on in the book, but by no means is given a comprehensive review. However, the data files on the CD-ROM should be loadable by any competant software package, so use the one you are most comfortable with.

If not overly familiar with any of them, I can recommend S, SPlus, and "GNU's S" (also known as "R") for their power and flexability to work with the data presented in the book.

All and all I found this to be an excellent book, definantly worthwhile if you want or need to know how to do multivariate analysis.

A precious text
This is a very good, very understandable book. It could (maybe should) be used as a first course in multivariate techniques. Concepts very well explained, it needs no more than a good basic course in statistics to be fully absorbed. It also includes enough matrix algebra to be self-contained.

not good
Your typical stat book written by a typical stat professor: dull, dry, and boring and geared towards other professors instead of people who might actually want to *learn* something.

This book is a paradox: it is geared for those who want to learn about multivariate statistics, but is written for those who are very experienced with multivariate analysis, espicially mathematical applications.

Why an instructor would ever assign this book is beyond me; buy and tolerate this book for class if you must. In fact, I don't know one student in my multivariate class who did not complement, supplement, and eventually supplant this text with another text, exasperated by the authors' pretentiousness and unnecessarily complex explanations.

Broad and practical
People complain that statistics is about memorizing a bunch of formulas and when to use them. I disagree. The real problem is that the formulas almost never apply exactly to the subject at hand - they have to be adjusted to each application.

That's why this book is so helpful. It gives huge numbers of results I can use immediately, but also shows me where they came from. That means that I can rephrase the formulas as needed in special computing environments, but still be sure that I'm getting a meaningful answer. The book has a secondary emphasis that I value very highly: checks that the techniques are giving meaningful answers. It's pretty silly, and perhaps dangerous, to apply a technique without knowing how good its results are. This book gives me the checks I need to measure the quality of the results from each technique.

No, there's no C code to cut and paste. This is a math book. The math is clear and well-developed, though, and mostly limited to linear algebra. As I type this, I have the book open to "Discrimination and Classification," and I have my protoype C program on the screen. That's how directly applicable the book is.

I admit, I haven't appplied every technique in the book. All of the book is equally well-written, though. When I need principal components or basic clustering, this is the book I'll grab first.

Complicated.
Why is nearly everything associated with upper division math and statistics seemingly difficult? I took a class that used this book, and some how got a B, I can't even remember half the stuff in this book. Why can't someone write a book that is simple to use, simple to understand, and a little more realistic! Don't get me wrong, I love math, I just have never sat down in a job and did a math proof. Proofs just seem to make the subject for difficult. I want to use the material in a realistic setting, maybe a real life setting?! ... Read more

Book Description

Why make statistics harder than it has to be?Lind/Marchal/Mason: STATISTICAL TECHNIQUES IN BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS, 11/e is a perennial market best seller due to its comprehensive coverage of statistical tools and methods delivered in a student friendly, step-by-step format.The text is non-threatening and presents concepts clearly and succinctly with a conversational writing style.All statistical concepts are illustrated with solved applied examples immediately upon introduction. Modern computing tools and applications are introduced, but the text maintains a focus on presenting statistics content as oppose to technology or programming methods, and the eleventh edition continues as a ‘students' text with increased emphasis on interpretation of data and results. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Good Book
This was a useful book and had helpful examples using excel. I had hoped that it would have had examples using the TI83 calculator but other than that this was a good book for statistics.

GOOD Stats book
Many examples. The formulas were easily explainable and understandable. However, I had hoped that it would have provided additional uses on the calculator like the TI83 - but the CD that accompanies this book was well done to help you do additional excercises on excel. So I give this book 5 stars!

Not a bad book
First of all, I would like to say that this is not a bad book, but I personally found that many of the examples were a little hard to follow. I felt that in many cases steps seemed to be left out, and it was assumed that you would know how to get to these points in the examples that were shown in the book. Unfortunately in my case the professor teaching our statistics class really does not seem to care to follow the material in the book. He's not a bad buy, but I'm not so sure he should be teaching statistics. In addition we use Microsoft Excel and the Megastat add-in on some of the example problems. So what happens is that the answers I get vary depending on whether I follow the book, my professor, or the Megastat program. All of this adds up to massive confusion on my part, and on the part of my fellow classmates.

The Paperback, International Ed. is Great
The paperback international edition is the best deal out there! It will save you a load of cash and is EXACTLY the same content wise as the hardback USA edition. As far as the quality of the textbook goes I'm not exactly a math minded person and this book seems to explain stuff fairly well or at least as good as Quantitative Methods can be explained.

Excellent Book!
Reading this Book helps anyone understand all Basic Statistics; this allows continue with more advanced textbooks. I recommend it to all, who need to start up with essential statistics and need a friendly, introductory but very efficient approach! ... Read more

Book Description

Gathering and interpreting statistics to diagnose problems and evaluate results in the business environment is an important skill that is more easily learned in the context of real applications, cases, and projects. This thorough introduction to business statistics introduces every topic with real examples and data sets from today's business world, and features menu-driven, user-friendly ASP statistical software that performs all necessary statistical computations, allowing readers to concentrate on interpretations. An abundance of practice exercises focuses on both mechanics applications.Comprehensive coverage surveys the full range of statistical topics and provides a thorough exploration of statistical computing -- with computer printouts for SAS, MINITAB, and SPSS, integrated throughout, and optional computer applications for each chapter -- with SAS, MINITAB, and SPSS commands. Real data sets include appraisals and sale prices for residential property sales; Business Week's executive compensation scoreboard, 1994; characteristics of HMO physicians in a managed-care system; Federal Trade Commission rankings of 372 cigarette brands. In addition to the new accompanying software, the Fifth Edition provides updated case studies, examples, and exercises based on studies reported in recent magazine, journal and news articles.For business personnel who want a comprehensive, applied introduction to business statistics. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Excellent Starting Point for Business students
I've used this textbook in the Athabasca University MBA program. The "Quantitative Analysis" course is an introductory course in statistics, with a focus on business applications. This text is perfect, as the examples used are directly relevant to businesspeople. There are also many questions and exercises, with the answers provided in the back of the book for all the odd-numbered questions. This allows students to practice and check their answers, while still allowing the professor to assign even-numbered questions as practice work to be checked by her later. The text starts with basic statistics, moves into probability, and continues all the way into multiple regression and non-parametric statistics. Real data sets are used liberally, and there are tutorials for SAS, SPSS, Minitab and ASP. Each section clearly defines critical terms offset from the body of the text, and the over 1000 exercises use data from real-world examples. Each chapter has exercises divided into "Learning the Mechanics" (straightforward applications of new concepts) and "Applying the Concepts" (applications of concepts to the solution of real-world problems). If you're a business student having difficulty with statistics, I'd recommend this book as an excellent primary or companion text.

Fine statistical teaching
Great book for beginners, and a good reference for more advanced statistical professionals. Logically structured, and written in real-world terms, this book is easy to read and follow. Sincich provides the reader with an understanding of statistical application in the every day world, bringing statistics out of the textbook and into reality. A superb guide to fundamental statistical principles.

Very good book for learning and consulting
It's a very useful book for learning statistics focused on business. Based on a solid theory, it gives you many practical case studies. The approach is not superficial, but the beginners will find a safe path for improvement and for the comprehension of the subjects. ... Read more

Book Description

A user-friendly guide to the basics of Six Sigma

From noted Six Sigma consultant and author George Eckes comes Six Sigma for Everyone, a practical guide that explains the underpinnings of the revolutionary quality assurance methodology. Appropriate for employees and top management alike, this book is the only one you need if your company is currently implementing or contemplating Six Sigma. It tells you what Six Sigma is and is not, what it does and how it does it, and what your role likely will be in the implementation process. Eckes uses straightforward definitions and in-depth examples to outline the processes, impact, and desired end result of implementation–eliminating the confusion and fear many feel when first introduced to Six Sigma. If you need to understand the basics, then this is the book for you. Topics include:

• The origins and history of Six Sigma
• Business Process Management: Six Sigma as management philosophy
• Individual and team tactics
• The ten basic tools each team member needs to succeed
• How you and your organization must change to make Six Sigma work

Reviews (4)

Highly Recommended!
George Eckes has written a concise, thorough introduction to the theory and practice of Six Sigma, the management philosophy that Jack Welch called the most important initiative of his entire career at General Electric. The book provides a look at every aspect of Six Sigma. In some places, it seems a bit too detailed for so short a book - particularly when the author introduces the variety of statistical charts, graphs and tables used in the analysis phase of Six Sigma. But that is a quibble. Eckes also gets a bit self-serving when, in the question and answer chapter, he takes a swipe at consultants who agree to work on a contingency basis, for a percentage of the savings a client achieves, instead of for a fee. In fact, we, where we are always glad to avoid a squabble, note that managers who use this book may achieve some level of business improvement without hiring any consultants at all.

Good intro readings on Six Sigma
Just finish reading this book. Good introduction-level material on the Six Sigma topic. This is not to say that the book is superficial or obvious. The book takes a logical cook-book approach to explane Six Sigma and how to implement a Six Sigma effort. If you are a manager that wants to understand Six Sigma and the esstntial elements of a Six Sigma program, this book is a good start. I really liked the section on the 10 Common questions about Six Sigma. However, if you want examples of detailed statistical models and metrics, then look elsewhere.

Good book for Six Sigma implemention at all level
This book provides a simple description on Six Sigma concept and how to use in practice. It will be more useful to Six Sigma experienced person.

Highly Recommended!
George Eckes has written a concise, thorough introduction to the theory and practice of Six Sigma, the management philosophy that Jack Welch called the most important initiative of his entire career at General Electric. The book provides a look at every aspect of Six Sigma. In some places, it seems a bit too detailed for so short a book - particularly when the author introduces the variety of statistical charts, graphs and tables used in the analysis phase of Six Sigma. But that is a quibble. Eckes also gets a bit self-serving when, in the question and answer chapter, he takes a swipe at consultants who agree to work on a contingency basis, for a percentage of the savings a client achieves, instead of for a fee. In fact, where we are always glad to avoid a squabble, notes that managers who use this book may achieve some level of business improvement without hiring any consultants at all. ... Read more

Book Description

A Powerful Look at Corporate Change and Why Mergers, Reorganizations, and Transformations Succeed or Fail

“[One of the] best business books of 2001 . . . [a] useful and intelligent tool for coping with the inevitable metamorphoses of business (and life).” —Miami Herald

“Provocative imagery . . . useful questions for managers to ask themselves.”—Harvard Business Review

“The Change Monster not only talks intelligently about the social dynamics and emotions of people [in change efforts], it does so with wisdom, insight, and practicality.”—Daniel Leemon, executive vice president and chief strategy officer, Charles Schwab Corporation

“A practitioner’s primer on revitalization that puts you in the shoes of some who have failed and others who have succeeded. In doing so, Jeanie Daniel Duck graphically delivers her main message to management: Learn to master the emotions and obsessions of those who stand in the way of change, including your own, and once you do, you have your hands on a miraculous engine for change.” —Michael Useem, professor of management and director of the Center for Leadership and Change at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and author of The Leadership Moment and Leading Up

“Duck is an acute and empathetic observer of the changes erupting in the workplace from the convulsive nature of corporate evolution. . . . Jeanie Duck’s terrific book is a . . . useful and intelligent tool for coping with the inevitable metamorphoses of business (and life). Sensitive but tough, Duck’s compassionate wisdom is street smart without a trace of glibness.” —Miami Herald ... Read more

Reviews (17)

The Textbook on Human Emotions
The human nature lies in the very base of any organization. That is why organizations, including business ones, tend to behave like humans. Along their lives they pass through different stages, like stagnation, understanding the necessity of change, the transformation and either back to the stagnation or upward to the new level of consciousness or efficiency. However, very few books on the market consider the transformation process from the "human" point of view. That is from the prospective of human emotions. Ms. Duck is to be sincerely thanked for the attempt to close the gap.

The book shows that the emotions do really matter in the process of changes, and can easily abrupt the transformation, as well as make it successful. Interestingly, many consultants yet fail to recognize this obvious fact and prefer to deal with charts rather then with people and their complicated behavior. The author points out that the process of changes is somewhat constant to any business structure in the modern world - another conventional truth, which is often forgotten by CEOs and business leaders.

Meanwhile, the book fails to show how particular managing techniques help to resolve emotional problems on each stage of transformation. The examples from "real life" are somewhat chaotic and case studies are not well organized around the central idea (if there is any?). It is not clear what is the point of each particular story, including the glimpses of the author's biography in the beginning of some chapters and the end of the book.

That is why I would consider the book "a textbook", rather than "a manual" which can give you a systemic view on transformation and a set tools to deal with the process. For these purposes a reader is kindly advised to address to "Creative Destruction", a book written by direct competitors of Jeanie Duck - two McKinsey consultants. The other point of concern is that the author overemphasizes the role of an external consultant. Such an approach depreciates the value of the expertise brought into the book and gives an impression that Ms. Duck's judgments are biased ("you tend to fail if you don't follow a consultant's advice", the book's bottomline).

Comforting
The change monster made me aware of the stages of change in a company: Stagnation,
Preparation, Implementation, and Fruition. Ms Duck seems to be an excellent consultant from the stories I read. The book seems oriented towards Human Resources types as the title suggests. My background is Information Technology consulting, so I found I related too only a few of her stories. I would say her stories were interesting and demonstrated how companies move through change stages arriving at fruition. Ms Duck reminences on her experience and draws important conclusions and abstractions from her experiences. Some of her experiences seemed familar while a larger portion were not as concrete. I could see how large organizations profit from her holositic view of change.

I'm sure her wisdom should not dismissed. I've read Jack Welch's books and reflected on the quantifiable and scientific approach to change and can see objective change can appeal rationally; however, Ms Duck seems to have produced change through insight and dramatic effects a vast range of companies and types. She seems to have a gift for perception and insight into the inner dynamics of the people that make change happen in a company. Duck hand holds her clients through change stages and comforts them by imparting wisdom that allows her client to see a "better way". This "better way" seems to have dynamic impacts on the production of the company. Once the barriers are removed the company matures and reaches fruition.

Good book, would have been a better article...
This is a good book on leading change and the effect of change on people (and, in turn, the effect of people on the change initiative). However, it doesn't measure up to Kotter's "Leading Change," Ulrich, Zenger, and Smallwood's "Results-Based Leadership," or Fogg's "Implementing Your Strategic Plan." The problem is that the book really makes you work to mine the little "nuggets" of wisdom that it contains. Essentially, this book is a large case-study of Honeywell's Micro Switch subsidiary. Buried deep within the case study are the management principles that we're all reading the book to discover. I'm not saying that the book isn't well-written and worth the time to read; rather, I'm saying that it isn't easy. I would have preferred some quote-boxes or other graphics that highlighted the necessary information. Perhaps two or three chapters in the beginning that detail the change process and the book's fundamental management principles. In the end, I think this book would have been a fantastic article in Harvard Business Review. However, as a book, it just takes too long to get to the point. Overall grade: B-/B.

Good advice but plodding
I disagree with some of the other reviewers who say that the book is a good read. I felt that I didn't know where the book was going a lot of the time. When all was said and done, I was glad to be finished (sometimes I really had to push myself to keep going), but I did learn a lot about change management.

Good ideas!
I had to purchase this book for a graduate-level class. Jeanie Duck provides an easy-to-read book, providing a fresh perspective on the emotional aspects of organizational change. She concentrates on mergers and acquisitions, but the information and focus she provides can still be utilized in any change situation. ... Read more

Book Description

This thoroughly research-based book— written by two experts in the field Fred Massarik and Marissa Pei-Carpenter with contributions from other well-known professionals— reestablishes the connection between theory, research, and practice and affirms core OD values. They emphasize the "personhood" of the consultant and client, the relevance of "feel" and intuition combined with fact and technique, and the importance of real people doing real things in real time holistically. In addition to these core ideas, the authors outline new viewpoints that are especially relevant in today's rapidly changing world. They explain that quick-fix linear approaches are not likely to bring substantial lasting results and OD must be rooted in the vast knowledge available about the human condition-recognizing the complexity of real life. They also show how value is the essential cornerstone of organization development. ... Read more

Book Description

In the Second Edition of their popular text, Wayne Winston and Chris Albright continue to build on their highly successful approach of teaching by example while using spreadsheets to model a wide variety of business problems.The authors show the relevance of topics through numerous examples of real-world implementation of management science. The ideal solution for people who want to teach by example and who want to solve real problems with spreadsheets and professional spreadsheet add-ins, this text is always interesting, in part due to the useful cases added to this edition. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Good hands-on book
I am a student at a very hands-on university and this book fit in perfectly into one of my classes. A professor used this book as a reference in my graduate Operations Research class. I was so intrigued by the step-by-step examples, I went out and bought the book to learn more. The book goes over the basic applications of Operation Research used in Excel which makes the application of what is learned easier to apply outside of class. The step-by-step examples really help when applying what is learned to the excercises.

Not as good as the first edition
I own both editions where I belive the 1st edition is better than their second. I don't particular like their new approach in teaching network modeling; it's non-intuitive. The first edition was a bit more 'logical' and easier to set up than the approach use in their 2nd edition. Secondly, their use of the Palisade @Risk is definitely a good choice, but the time lock (1 year if registered online) somewhat deflates the enthusiasm knowing that at some future date your software will cease to work. I bought the @129 upgrade but jumped through hoops with palisades (their authorization code did not undo the time lock and tech support argued that it was a publisher issue--in the long run they discovered a problem with the software where it was not taking the time lock off the application as designed.) I do like the 2nd edition's choice of larger fonts and the broader examples. I am still yet disappointed that unlike many other quality text books, the text does not include answers to 'odd' or even selected problems. I don't think the authors realize that their text is used by professionals looking to develop workplace skills and are not necessarily enrolled in a formal academic setting. Nevertheless, I bought the second edition because I think management science is a terribly valuable skill to have and that the authors have published the best book in the area of MS.

Very Pleased
I am a business unit manager who frequently purchases books and software to maintain my level of competence in operations management, and I recently purchased the second edition of this book, copyright 2001. I have found it to be a great value, and agree with the reviewers the earlier edition who found it to be a very fine text on Operations Research. It comes with the standard version of Palisade's Decision Tools software, which is just outstanding. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this book to anyone. Additionally, there's an option to upgrade to a fully licensed edition of this software at a greatly reduced price; the student version that comes with the book is fully functional, but is only licensed one year for students, 30 days for professionals. Microsoft doesn't give their software away for free either.

Good Pratical Book
I used this book when I took OR class and I think that the book is quite good but it lack of theory calculation and also scientific calculation about each problem. In general I still believe that this is a good book.

This book is the best of the bunch
I began using this book when I was a part time lecturer while working on my Ph.D. Now that I'm an Assistant Professor I get a chance to review most of the new books that deal with OR/MS. It is surprising that none of those can even come close to the quality of this book. What I enjoy most about it is the amazing clarity with which it explains concepts that would usually force students to run to the hills. In addition, its extensive use of spreadsheets helps the teacher to present the material in a more practical way. Without reservation I recommend it to anyone teaching an OR/MS course at an undergraduate (or even MBA) level. ... Read more

Book Description

The text is not written for those students who will become statisticians; it is written for future decision makers in business. The focus and goal is to make students better quantitative decision makers.

The concepts of statistics are presented in the setting of business decision making through the use of many real world examples, real business data and applications.

Student Study Guide:  Designed to be used alongside the text book, this invaluable step-by-step study guide walks students through the text as they read it and work problems while supporting the decision making approach. ... Read more

Book Description

Practical Business Statistics, 5/e was written in response to instructors not wanting a formula driven, mathematically encyclopedic book.The use of computer applications means some topics no longer require coverage in detail.This allows future managers to know how to use and understand statistics.The text does this by using examples with real data that relate to the functional areas of business such as finance, accounting, and marketing.It de-emphasizes the theoretical, and presents the material in a well-written, easy style designed to motivate students.The emphasis is on understanding and applications as opposed to mathematical precision and formula detail. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Mediocre.
This is not the best book on the subject. There are many other superior books to this one. I still keep it around as a descent reference on statistics, and occasionally get something out of it.

The review of Practical Business Statistics
It's a very good book because of the way it divulges you into the real world. If you are interested in learning business and business statistics, what better place to learn it than the real world.

Instead of a "mean" they should call it a "nice"
I had the privelege of taking an MBA level course from Andy Siegel. The style of the text reflects the simply, user-friendly way he communicates in class. Not having taken a stats class before, I was happy to find a professor who could take a dry, complex subject and make it interesting and relatively painless. More professors should use this text! ... Read more

Book Description

This book illustrates basic statistical concepts with extensive applications in engineering and scientific contexts. The book includes optional theoretical exercises, allowing readers who choose to emphasize theory to do so with requiring additional materials. The fourth edition contains SAS and MINITAB computer printout results for all analyses performed—plus new exercises based on magazine and journal articles and news reports. KEY TOPICS: A section on "Detecting Normal Distributions" (Chapter 5) gives readers insights on when it is reasonable to assume that underlying data is normally distributed. There is a comprehensive example on model building (Chapter 13) and emphasis on the regression approach to a Nova (also presents the traditional approach). There are two sections discussing principles of experimental design, i.e., noise-reducing and volume-increasing design, a section on "Total Quality Management" and coverage of statistical computing. There are optional, calculus-based theoretical exercises, and real data sets, extracted from scientific studies, are provided in an appendix. Numerical answers to all applied exercises are included in an appendix—giving readers immediate feedback on their work. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Good for intuition
I think this book is very good for grasping the concepts and intuition behind the mathematical formalisms. Perhaps it should be used with another more theoretical book (Meyer, for instance). It is useful not only for engineering students.

Good book without the unnecessary confusion added
The author adds unnecessary confusion by ignoring variable naming conventions. In some places he uses "y" as the independent variable name, while in other places, he uses "x". I have never seen f(y) on the vertical axes but yet the author uses P(y) on the vertical axes. It seems the only equation he got correct, according to convention, was the historical y=mx+b. This book should be dreastically updated to conform to standard variable naming conventions. After eliminating the variable naming confusion, I think this book will be an excellent book to read and learn ... Read more

Book Description

This popular best-selling book shows students and professionals how to do data analysis with Microsoft Excel. DATA ANALYSIS WITH MICROSOFT EXCEL teaches students and professionals the fundamental concepts of statistics and how to use Microsoft Excel to solve the kind of data-intensive problems that arise in business and elsewhere. Even students with no previous experience using spreadsheets will find that this text's step-by-step approach, extensive tutorials, and examples make it easy to learn how to use Excel for analyzing data. A CD-ROM is included with every new text that contains the StatPlus add-ins for Microsoft Excel and data sets for exercises. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

A review by a statistics class (XP edition)
I use this book as the main text book for the first half of a class in statistics and research methods for students from a wide variety of social science and humanities backgrounds, with little formal statistics or mathematics background.

I surveyed my students with 5 questions about the book, with responses on a Likert scale (1=strongly disagree, 3=neutral, 5=strongly aggree. 17 students responded, which is a small enough sample size to caution applicability of results. The mean value of each response appears after the questions I asked.

1.The book was, overall, helpful in explaining statistical concepts. (Mean=2.73). Students would have appreciated more explanation and examples.
2.The book helped me to analyze data. (Mean=2.3)
3.The StatPlus AddIn was, overall, helpful in analyzing data. (Mean=3.76)
4.The StatPlus AddIn worked well on my computer. (Mean=3.7)
5.Overall, I would recommend this book to next year's class. (Mean=3.05)

Thus, overall, weighting each question equally, my students gave the book 3.12 stars.

As a professor, I give the book 4 stars. The organization of the book chapters fit well in an overview course, with one chapter assinged per week. The StatPlus AddIn is worth the cost of the book itself, as it expands the statistical capabilities of Excel without students needing to purchase additional software. There are a wide range of problems and example data sets which come with the book, applicable to a wide range of disciplines. A significant number of students had computer difficulties installing and running the StatPlus AddIn, so I would recommend to the company a support web page with FAQs, at the least.

Students with little preparation in mathematics or statiscs who need a good step-by-step guide to data analysis will find this book helpful, especially if they do the excercises at the end of the chapters. (The publishers should make the answers available to everyone, not just us instructors -- for those working on their own who want to check their work). However, students with some preparation in statistics or mathematics may be better served with a more advanced text.

StatPlus a useful tool
The statplus pack taht comes with the book, does a great job at solving one of excel shortcomings - not being able to add test labels to points on a scatter plot.
The book it self is too simplistic, does not go into detail on how formulas work. If you need a book to explain the formulas behind excel stats, and how to manipulate them, this is not the book.
However if you are just learning/teaching how to use the formulas for basic analysis this is great.

Saved my bacon!
This book was a lifesaver on a graduate research project I was working on. I learned a lot about statistics, Microsoft Excel, and how they both work together. (My boss thinks that I am smart now)

Data Analysis for "Non"-Scientists
I was browsing through a local bookstore for a guide to Excel specially tailored for science and engineering applications. I encountered this book and found it very interesting and detailed. It is written in plain English that conveys the message very well. For readers are looking for info about using Excel for statistics (pertaining to business, economics, and social science), this is the perfect book. Yet it does not extrapolate and contain all the necesaary info on science and engineering applications. I still recommend this book for non-scientists.

Data Analysis with Microsoft Excel by Berk and Carey
As a statistics instructor, I found the book and software very helpful. To extract the software is a bit tricky - you need to read pages 8-10 and 76-77 to get the disk installed. Once installed, the Stat Plus Add-In adds extra tools, including a box plot and normal probability plot, that standard Excel does not have. My students use the software in a computer lab. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Tons of Mistakes
Just a quick note... This book is filled with reference mistakes and inconsistencies. Trying to study for a test, and I'm frustrated with trying to figure out what this book is saying. C'mon guys, this is the 8th edition!!

Very mediocre textbook
Two things amaze me about this book:
#1 This book is in it's eigth edition
#2 Prentice Hall actually published this book

Wow I can't believe quality control at Prentice Hall allowed this one to slip through. It has no proof anywhere, rather it just throws equations at the reader and tries to convince the reader through examples. Several key probability and statistics concepts are no where present in this book. I was able to fill in the gaps through prior experience. I think the author must have assumed a very low mathematical capability of the reader which is strange because both business and economics get very mathematical. The data exercises are for the most part uninteresting. Also my copy has serious printing errors on several pages and the binding is weak.

Mediocre entre to statistical analysis
I used the 7th Edition in a graduate course in statistics and was frustrated both by the text's poor organization and its failure to present key statistical concepts clearly. I had to resort frequently to other sources to clarify topics that were poorly presented in the Prentice Hall text, and tended to find much simpler explanations outside of the text. The problem sets are particularly troublesome, as many of them do not appear to relate to the section in which they are contained and insufficient explanations are offered in the answer key. I recommend you look elsewhere.

Totally unnecessary
After buying the seventh and the eighth edition of Statistics for Business and Economics. The two are pretty much the same. So, save your money, and fight back the publishing company by not purchasing this book. ... Read more

Book Description

This book covers the concepts and applications of statistics used in the functional areas of business-accounting, marketing, management, and economics, and finance. Focused more on concepts than on statistical methods, it shows readers how to properly use statistics to analyze data and demonstrates how computer software is an integral part of this analysis. "Using Statistics" scenarios discuss how statistics is used in a real business setting. Includes contemporary business applications, many with real data sets, and an integrated case that runs throughout chapters. "PHSTAT," a custom designed Excel add-in, is packaged with each book.Introduction and Data Collection. Presenting Data in Tables and Charts. Summarizing and Describing Numerical Data. Basic Probability and Probability Distributions. Sampling Distributions and Confidence Interval Estimation. Fundamentals of Hypothesis Testing: One-Sample Tests. Two-Sample and C-Sample Tests with Numerical Data. Hypothesis Testing with Categorical Data. Statistical Applications in Quality and Productivity Management. The Simple Linear Regression Model and Correlations. Introduction to Multiple Regression. Time Series Analysis.An accessible introduction or refresher on statistics for those in accounting, marketing, management, economics, and finance. ... Read more

Book Description

STATISTICS FOR MANAGEMENT AND ECONOMICS, ABBREVIATED SIXTH EDITION is a subset of core chapters from the worldwide best selling and more comprehensive, STATISTICS FOR MANAGEMENT AND ECONOMICS, Sixth Edition (2003). This text teaches students how to apply statistics to real business problems through the authors' unique three-step approach to problem solving. Students learn to IDENTIFY the right technique by focusing on the relationship between the problem and data type. They then learn to COMPUTE the answer either by hand, using Excel, or using MINITAB (SPSS and JMP output and instructions appear on the text Web site). Finally, they INTERPRET the results in the context of the problem. This approach enhances student comprehension as well as practical skills, and offers maximum flexibility to instructors wishing to teach concepts by hand or with the computer, or by using both hand and computer methods. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Unclear
I used this book a semester ago in my probability class and I must say this is one of the worst textbooks I've come across with.There are plenty of exercises in the book and like the reviewer above said, it covers a lot.However, my friends and I all find the explanations are unclear and unhelpful.

Above average, but that's not saying much for b-stat texts
I have taught MBA Stats using this book for 3 semesters. I have looked carefully at many others, and taught with some of them. Here are some thoughts about Keller/Warrack:

PROS:

All the important topics are covered, and many unimportant ones.

The writing is almost always very clear. The writing is not as good as some economics textbooks I've taught with, but this is true of almost all business statistics textbooks I've seen.

There are plenty of end-of-chapter and end-of-section exercises covering all the key concepts.

Cosmetics - the book has a neat, uncluttered appearance, and the use of color is effective and not distracting. I think this stuff matters, for getting the students to be comfortable spending time with the book, and not making them confused or overwhelmed.

One of the authors, Gerald Keller, is very prompt at returning my emails.

CONS:

Some of the in-text Excel instructions are 90% but not 100% accurate or sufficient.

The "real-world" examples in the probability theory chapters are contrived and unrealistic. This is true of most business stat textbooks, whose authors can't seem to accept that the purpose of these chapters is NOT to illuminate the behavior of the business world, but rather to provide a foundation for a deep understanding of statistical inference (which DOES illuminate the business world extremely well).

The solutions manual has a fair number of mistakes. I'd be more understanding if this was a 1st or 2nd edition, but it's a 6th edition!!! There really is no excuse.

At the end of every semester, I survey my students to get their opinions on various aspects of the textbook. They rate Keller/Warrack acceptable but are not crazy about it. I agree, and have continued using it only because the abundant alternatives are generally mediocre.
... Read more

Book Description

Using high-quality, real-world case studies and examples, this introduction to mathematical statistics shows how to use statistical methods and when to use them. This book can be used as a brief introduction to design of experiments. This successful, calculus-based book of probability and statistics, was one of the first to make real-world applications an integral part of motivating discussion. The number of problem sets has increased in all sections. Some sections include almost 50% new problems, while the most popular case studies remain.For anyone needing to develop proficiency with Mathematical Statistics. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Excellent introduction to statistics...
This book manages to stay focused on the main ideas all the way through. It uses no more math than what is necessary to derive the proofs of most theorems (although some are omitted). The main ideas of each chapter is introduced before the details are worked out, and summarized at the end of each chapter. The examples and case-studies are usually interesting (sometimes thought-provoking), instead of solely being based on urns and coloured balls. And the exercises range from trivial to interesting...

In short, this is about as good as a textbook gets...

Great Book
This book is very useful in learning statistics. The text has many applications and problems that are practical. The authors include interesting biographical background on certain mathematicians and topics--this helps the student feel more connnected with the material. I highly recommend buying a copy (especially used--better deal) of this book for class or personal study.

Excellent Introductory Text
This is an excellent introductory text for students who wish to know more about mathematical statistics. The book is ideal for a student with a good solid year of mathematics, and the case studies really make the statistics theory more relevant

Clear exposition of statistical concepts
I found the book to have clear explanations of many statistical concepts. I am a computer science graduate student with no formal background in statistics. I have looked at several statistics and probability theory textbooks and have found this one to be the easiest to understand and clearly written. That said, I am not using this book for a course, so I am not doing practice problems. The small number of problems for each section may be a shortcoming for those who are using this book for a course. Also, the proofs can be a little terse, although I have found this to be the case with other stat books.

Good Intro for the Mathematically Mature
This text is a good introduction to probability theory and mathematical statistics for the mathematically mature. It presumes a working knowledge of multivariate calculus and good facility with symbolic manipulation. The major shortcoming, though, is the small amount of sample problems and exercises after each section. As this book has not been revised since the mid-1980's, perhaps the authors will take this into account for the next edition (I await). Two particularly nice features of this book are the historical backgrounds of probability theory and the dry, dark humor that the authors interject. These make the book a bit more entertaining.

As for the reviewer below, from Wharton: I give you credit for taking STAT-430 and not 101, but do you really believe the book is quite that bad? ... Read more