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

Amazon.com

With the stock market breaking records almost daily, leaving longtime market analysts shaking their heads and revising their forecasts, a study of the concept of risk seems quite timely. Peter Bernstein has written a comprehensive history of man's efforts to understand risk and probability, beginning with early gamblers in ancient Greece, continuing through the 17th-century French mathematicians Pascal and Fermat and up to modern chaos theory. Along the way he demonstrates that understanding risk underlies everything from game theory to bridge-building to winemaking. ... Read more

Reviews (111)

No Risk here, The Odds areYou'll love it.
i'm very much a novice in the study of risk and probabilities; however, I've been lucky enough to come across some excellent business oriented books - but in actuality and thankfully far more philosophical than financial - (Fooled by Randomness for instance) lately that have done a masterful job of presenting this seemingly dry subject in a very fascinating way. Bernstein has probably written the quintessential historical study on Risk and Probability with this volume. It is filled with interesting details of the human qualities and quirks of the mathematicians and philosophers that investigated the problems of probablity and explains the mathematics involved with lucidity and wit. The book follows a chronological approach; however, it's also thematic to show the evolution of the subject of risk management and the influence of other sciences on it - such as evolution. Those that refuse to accept the idea that markets remain unpredictable despite the development of modern risk control mechanisms like derivatives, computer modelling, and modern financial instruments will find this book frustrating. Those who want a wquick fix investment solutions guide will be even angrier and will nort find anything useful here. This book belongs in the philosophy of science and History of Ideas sections far more than the business dept. Nonetheless, the serious and thoughtful investor is advised to read this book carefully. as someone who's lost in the stock markets himself the Bernstein's book can reduce the sting of the loss and impart some well needed wisdom. I no longer invest but I loved this book all the same.

Long on history, but short on risk management strategy
The title of my review is aimed at warning those expecting to find a risk management manual in this book that they will be disappointed. So will those who expect to find the links between the evolution modern statistics and acturial science to the rise of insurance markets and risk management instruments which have proliferated in this century. Many other books quite ably cover these interesting topics.

Instead, the author provides a broad sweeping history of how modern statistics evolved and which answers some questions of why it took so long for modern risk management institutions to emerge. Ancient Greeks, among others, who appeared to be within easy reach of developing statisical theory, nonetheless relegated their fate to the whims of gods, rather than making them amenable to analysis with probabilities and actuarial tables. Tracing modern risk management from the time of Jacob Bernoulli's attempt to develop probabilities from sample data, the author also shows how a knowledge of probabilities can ultimately generate value. QUOTE Reality is a series of conneceted events, each dependent on another, radically diffeent form games of chance in which the outcome of any single throw has zero influence on the outcome of the next throw UNQUOTE The book closes with risk management innovations that followed the emergence of financial volatlity in the 1970s.

Ultimately, this book may be of less interest to statisticians and investment professionals, other than those who have a curious interest in how today's highly developed set of instruments, institutions, and policies around risk came about from the foundations provided in statistical theory.

History Buffs: Here you go!
Against the Gods draws you through a vast time span. Peter Bernstein begins with the conception of the Arabic numbeting system, up through present time super speed computers. Although, the history found in this book is interesting, the title leads you to believe it is all about investment risks, however it is more of a history text book than a manual. This book is a story of theories and how they developed. You will learn quite a bit about ancient times and how things evolved into the way that they are now, but do not expect any great help or advice on how to deal with risks in the investment world. Once you get into this book, Bernstein's writing sytle draws you in. The book is interesting enough, Bernstein's knowledge of hisotry is astounding. History Buffs: here ya go!

Good outline of the history of risk
"Against the Gods" is a book outlining the history of risk. The book provides an outline of all the key players and their contribution to risk theory and management. Chronologically, the book begins in ancient times and stretches all the way to the present, where Bernstein delves into the works of modern day risk luminaries. The book is well written and the style is engaging, with the author always managing to find a way to keep the reader entertained as well as informed.

The book does not pretend to be a "how to" guide for risk management, nor should readers treat it as such. Although the book does discuss modern risk management tools such as derivatives, it is devoid of complex technical analysis and its treatment of such devices is limited to outlining their place in the history of risk. Those looking for technical trading analysis should seek elsewhere.

One of the key questions a potential reader of this book should be asking is "Does this book have any practical applications with regards to modern day risk management?" Whilst as mentioned above the book is not a step by step guide, I firmly believe the book is useful insofar as it enables the reader to avoid the pitfalls of the past. For example, capital markets are continually surprising those who hold an unwavering belief in "regression to the mean". The books provides an explanation of what this theory states, how it has been applied and where overzealous disciples have misused this principle in the past. Overall I would recommend this book as an informative and enjoyable read.

Neutral Recommendation - Do Not Buy - Maybe Borrow
I am going to give you a short review and to the point.

I read this book because it was recommended on "Money Talk" the national radio show on every weekend for 6 hours on investing - Bob Brinker hosting. He is an excellent market timer and gives solid advice. Follow his (diversified investment) advice and you will make lots of money and unlike mutual funds do better than the S&P 500 with low expense ratios.

He had a recommended reading list and he named this book. The book is a disappointment. It is light weight stuff. Only part is on the markets. Frankly I cannot recommend the book.

The point of the book is that the market carries risk. Most people know that and never put more than 4% in one stock. Even Bill Gates knows that and has quietly converted some of his Microsoft stock into other areas. So skip the book and just invest in government backed instruments or follow the golden rule, no more than 4% in one stock.

Jack in Toronto ... Read more

Book Description

The success of the first edition of Generalized Linear Models led to the updated Second Edition, which continues to provide a definitive unified, treatment of methods for the analysis of diverse types of data. Today, it remains popular for its clarity, richness of content and direct relevance to agricultural, biological, health, engineering, and other applications.The authors focus on examining the way a response variable depends on a combination of explanatory variables, treatment, and classification variables. They give particular emphasis to the important case where the dependence occurs through some unknown, linear combination of the explanatory variables.The Second Edition includes topics added to the core of the first edition, including conditional and marginal likelihood methods, estimating equations, and models for dispersion effects and components of dispersion. The discussion of other topics-log-linear and related models, log odds-ratio regression models, multinomial response models, inverse linear and related models, quasi-likelihood functions, and model checking-was expanded and incorporates significant revisions.Comprehension of the material requires simply a knowledge of matrix theory and the basic ideas of probability theory, but for the most part, the book is self-contained. Therefore, with its worked examples, plentiful exercises, and topics of direct use to researchers in many disciplines, Generalized Linear Models serves as ideal text, self-study guide, and reference. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

first great treatment of generalized linear models
Nelder and Wedderburn wrote the seminal paper on generalized linear models in the 1970s. Since then John Nelder has pioneered the research and software development of the methods. This is the first of several excellent texts on generalized linear models. It illustrates how through the use of a link function many classical statistical models can be unified into one general form of model. This unification is helpful both theoretically and computationally. Various applications are presented in a clear manner.

Very comprehensive, very helpful.
The first edition is already a well-known text and reference, this expanded version is even better. Very comprehensive and very helpful.

One of the best books on modelling
This is an important book. It is a mature, deep introduction to generalized linear models.

General linear models extend multiple linear models to include cases in which the distribution of the dependent variable is part of the exponential family and the expected value of the dependent variable is a function of the linear predictor. Besides the normal (Gaussian) distribution, the binomial distribution, the Poisson distribution and the Gamma distribution, are just some of the exponential family members most frequently encountered in the scientific literature. Using appropriate functions to join the dependent variable to the linear predictor many classic models of applied statistics are included in the broad frame of generalized linear models: "logistic regression", log-linear models, Cox's proportional hazards models are just some of them.

Further extensions to the "base" family of generalized linear models, such as those based on the use of quasi-likelihood functions, and models in which both the expected value and the dispersion are function of a linear predictor, are well presented in the book.

Examples, and exercises, introduce many non-banal, useful, designs.

There are some minor drawbacks. Some more advanced topics might have been introduced more smoothly (i.e. conditional likelihood). Some other topics are better understood when you are already familiar with the specific object of study (i.e. Cox's proportional hazards models as a generalized linear model). The book does not provide software examples, nor is it related with any specific statistical package. However, the maturity of the reader to whom the book is addressed should be so high that translating the majority of the examples presented in the book in the "language" of a familiar statistical package should not be a problem. ... Read more

Book Description

CALCULUS: APPLICATIONS AND TECHNOLOGY is a modern text that is guided by four basic principles: The Rule of Four, technology, the Way of Archimedes, and an exploratory teaching method. Where appropriate, each topic is presented graphically, numerically, algebraically, and verbally, helping students gain a richer, deeper understanding of the material. A pronounced emphasis in the text on technology, whether graphing calculators or computers, permits instructors to spend more time teaching concepts. Additionally, applications play a central role in the text and are woven into the development of the material. More than 500 referenced exercises and hundreds of data sets contained in the text make this text useful and practical for students. Most importantly, this text lets students investigate and explore calculus on their own, and discover concepts for themselves. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

An OK calculus book
I'm not really sure if this book stands out that much from the countless calc books that have been written, but the selection of problems is quite good.We use this book at Santa Barbara City college.It is a good book to teach from because the overall coverage of topics is good.Some of my students have complained that the book is hard to read.Well, I thought that too when I first learned from Larson and Hostetler.If you are are a student reading this, I would reccomend Stuart's Calculus book over this one.There is one thing I need to comment on that definitely has confused some of my students.Mr. Tomastik doesn't feel the need to devote a section of the text to partial fraction expansions, but he uses those ideas in the text, especially in the sections on solving differential equations!!

Only If You Already Know Calculus...
Unfortunately you may be required to buy this book for your class, and have no say in whether it should be used. But if the option is there, my suggestion is you run as far as possible from this text. Unless you alreadyhave a good knowledge of calculus, you may find yourself thoroughly andridiculously lost as you are led through this book. In my experience withmathematics texts, most follow a predictable pattern; most sample problemswill follow a step-by-step explanation of how the problem is solved, whileexplaining WHY the problem is solved in that particular manner. Through itsentirety, this text leaves out the WHY. Being that this book is not usedfor higher level calculus courses (at my university, it is a requirementfor a freshman year math course), it is perplexing that it is not writtento cater towards its audience. Assuming you are not a mathematician or donot absolutely love math, this particular book leaves one feeling mentallychallenged. ... Read more

Book Description

A new edition of the bestselling Biostatistics textbook. This classic text takes a more applied and computer-oriented approach to its topical coverage. Like its predecessors, the Eighth Edition stresses intuitive understanding of principles rather than learning by mathematical proof. It provides broad coverage of statistical procedures used in all the health science disciplines. Nearly all the examples and exercises make use of real data from actual research projects and reports from health sciences literature. Where appropriate, Minitab, SPSS and SAS commands and printouts are included as part of the examples and solutions to exercises. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Excellent Text for 2nd Statistics Class
I'm taking my first biostatistics class in medical school, but the text I am using in class (Rosner) has lost me.I subsequently borrowed Daniel's book from the library (only because it has 7th editions), and I am glad that I picked it!Daniel is a good writer.The book is well organized and laid out.Important concepts are emphased and explained with minimum mathematics involved.The well thought out examples are worth working through as well for clarification of the applications of important concepts.However, as a beginner in statistics, I was lost in the midst of mathematics on certain concepts (given that I have a relatively strong mathematics background) without really understanding the meaning of some very basic terms, like percentile, confidence intervals.

What I do is to read another reference book that explains the very basic concepts in plain English first before reading this text.I am currently using Munro's Statistical Methods for Health Care Research.While both of them cover the same set of concepts, Daniel gives me the mathematical and more advanced explainations compare to Munro.

Very Good
I have used this and other texts by Daniel over the years and I find you can not go wrong with his works.He is a no nonsense author and a very good writer who uses plenty of examples.Get his nonparametric book also.

Solid introductory reference
The title is very appropriate - this text provides a solid foundation in biostats.I used it for an intro course in grad school, and working through the text was very worthwhile.Previously cloudy concepts are now more clear, and I have a great reference for future use. More in-depth biostats deserves a consultation with a statistician, not a longer text. I agree with other reviewers that there are occasional mistakes (which need to be fixed - this is not even the first edition), but overall I would still highly recommend it.

Solid introductory reference
The title is very appropriate - this text provides a solid foundation in biostats.I used it for an intro course in grad school, and working through the text was very worthwhile.Previously cloudy concepts are now more clear, and I have a great reference for future use. More in-depth biostats deserves a consultation with a statistician, not a longer text. I agree with other reviewers that there are occasional mistakes (which need to be fixed - this is not even the first edition), but overall I would still highly recommend it.

Decent introductory text; but shoddy construction
Well, if I still refer to this text after having taken Intro to Biostats almost 3 years ago, then this book can't be all that bad.For the money, however, the publisher could have at least made the book more durable.This book starts to fall apart after only about a month of use- I kid you not! ... Read more

Book Description

* Concise and complete coverage of probability.
* Thorough coverage of regression modeling, design of engineering experiments, and statistical process control.
* Wide range of problem levels. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

helpful
This book helped me to solve many types of engineering problems which require an appreciation of variability and some understanding of how to use both descriptive and analytical tools in dealing with variability.

Full of errors. There are better books.
This book is a terrible statistics book. It is full of inconsistancies and mistakes. Believe me there are much better books out there. ... Read more

Book Description

This book is about the use of modern statistical methods for quality control and improvement. It provides comprehensive coverage of the subject from basic principles to state-of-art concepts and applications. The objective is to give the reader a sound understanding of the principles and the basis for applying them in a variety of both product and nonproduct situations. While statistical techniques are emphasized throughout, the book has a strong engineering and management orientation. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

good book worst service
the book is very good ..no doubt but the service is aweful.

1. on the website they show it is a hardcover book and so i ordered for it but got a soft cover book ...now i have to worry about return or refunds etc...

2. had to wait for 3 weeks to get the book.

3. print quality aweful ...the original book has good color print...the one i received for the same price has a black and white print with very thin see-through pages...

my advice would be to avoid abebooks.com through amazon if possible because the same book is listed for $ 33 on their own website and here they sell it for $ 41 ...so waste ur money if u want.

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about SPC
As the developer of the QI Macros SPC Software for Excel, customers often call with exotic questions about statistical methods for quality control.

Montgomery's book, more often than not, is the one I turn to for answers that I can't seem to find anywhere else. Even if I do find the answer in another book, it's always easier to understand in Montgomery's. The book is written in a way that makes seemingly incomprehensible statistics understandable. And there are plenty of examples.

If you're looking for a book to help you implement quality control in a small business, Montgomery's book is a bit too much, so you might consider my book on the Small Business Guerrilla Guide to Six Sigma or Six Sigma Simplified.

A solid text on statistical quality control
The book gives an overview of the importance of quality management, the basics of statistics (variability, distributions, etc.), different methods of statistical process control, the use of control charts, capability analysis, design of experiments, process optimization, and sampling. I found all of the chapters informational and practical.

Montgomery does a great job of presenting the theory, giving examples, and helping the reader understand the big picture of various concepts. For example, Montgomery states that a "Pareto chart does not automatically identify the most important defects, but rather only those that occur most frequently," and then gives an example illustrating when this can be so. This is something that might have been overlooked if not pointed out to the reader.

While to book is rather current in introductory theory and practice, there are some relics from previous editions. For example, the inclusion of a random number table in the appendix is rather useless, since all modern calculators and spreadsheets have random number functions. This minor complaint aside, the book is solid and worth having.

An all-in-one text.
This is a rather comprehensive book on SQC. It benefits from a good introductory treatment of Design of Experiments, a subject sorely missing from most SQC texts. The arrangement of topics in the book is logical from both pedagogical and practical points of view, and the author's stress on improvement -- rather than control -- is the right one for the readers.

A college beginner's SQC textbook
This is a typical college text book which serves very well on the subject,SQC. It has provided a good coverage on SQC, in particular, as an introductory text. Each SQC subject is treated well from a newcomer perspective. If you're a beginner in the college education and looking for a book on this subject, this is IT! ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Excellent book
Having taken two experimental design classes with Dr. Montgomery himself, hands down this book is excellent, as is the author himself. A lot of the material that we used in our advanced phD level experimental design class comes from the extra material that is available for free of off the books supplemental website, and there is a great wealth of more advanced material in there that is worth printing off, and there is a lot of supplemental material. So if you feel solid on what is in the textbook, tackle the supplemental material to further delve into DOE topics. The book uses numerous examples using SAS, Minitab and Design-Expert and lots of practice problems, so following along using any of the packages is pretty easy.

Comprehensive Introduction to the Design of Experiments
This text was used in a graduate course on the Design of Experiments. It has a great wealth of examples that span many different fields of industry, from pharmaceuticals to "tool and die" manufacturing. This text, when used along with a statistical software package, made research projects easy to design, implement, analyze and present to others. I found the chapters on reliability, determining sample size for mixed models (random and fixed variables), very helpful in my research.

great DOE book for engineers
Doug Montgomery is an engineer with great statistical training. This enabled him to be a great teacher for statistical practitioners and an author of several excellent applied books in the design and analysis of experimental data and statistical process control. This book is one of the best sources for Design of Experiments for engineers, currently a very important topic in industry. He provides a wealth of information on classical designs and the analysis of variance models. In addition he provides a balanced perspective on the value of Taguchi designs. Other topics covered include response surface methods, evolutionary operation and mixture experiments.

highly regarded book on design for engineers
Doug Montgomery got excellent statistical training at VPI. He also has a wealth of practical experience from his consulting work. His books on regression, statistical design and response surfaces are all well written and understandable to engineers. This 4th edition published in 1997 still contains all the useful information on factorial and fractional factorial designs. Chapter 14 is a wonderful up-to-date chapter that covers important process optimization topics not often covered in traditional design of experiments books. This includes response surface methods, mixture experiments, evolutionary operation and Taguchi methods. It does not require high level mathematics.

A good blend of theory and practical examples.
This book, along with the Box, Hunter, and Hunter book (also available by Wiley) are good references for the experimenter. ... Read more

Book Description

This best-selling engineering statistics text provides a practical approach that is more oriented to engineering and the chemical and physical sciences than many similar texts. It's packed with unique problem sets that reflect realistic situations engineers will encounter in their working lives.
Each copy of the book includes an e-Text on CD - that is a complete electronic version of book. This e-Text features enlarged figures, worked-out solutions, links to data sets for problems solved with a computer, multiple links between glossary terms and text sections for quick and easy reference, and a wealth of additional material to create a dynamic study environment for students.
Suitable for a one- or two-term Jr/Sr course in probability and statistics for all engineering majors. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Worst book ever
I have never seen as many mistakes in any other college level textbook in my life. The authors are so lazy, the end of section questions refer to tables and information which you have to flip backwards 50 or 75 pages to find the example they are referring to. The could not come up with new examples of what. Definitely use Bean's book which uses many real world examples to illustrated ideas. This book is awful.

Riddled with Errors
This book has the potential to be good but I've already uncovered about 20 mistakes during 2 weeks of extremely light use. There are numerous problems that are set up so that the answers are insane (Z > 9 problem 7-42). I think the publisher should fire whoever proofed this book. Don't waste your money, get Walpole and Myers instead for an introductory text.

There are so many mistakes...so many
There are quite a few unforgivable mistakes...They highlight one of the most important formulas on a page and the formula is WRONG... The answers at the end of the book are so wrong that will confuse you. The authers should proofread the book much more carefully.

Good for reference
This is an excellent reference work, though, as a text is is inadequate. I found that several of the answers in the back are incorrect and often the practice questions rely too much "refer to problem 8-16." The explanations are somewhat hard to follow as is the practice of placing figures some distance away from the related text. This is a Wiley book so it is over-priced, but what are you going to do?

a MUST for every working engineer
I took this class during my 1st semester as an IOE student at Univ of Michigan. Back then I never had done any real applications of Stats before, so I basically chugged through the course. But now as a professional, working engineer, I realize what an awesome book this is!! It is a MUST as a reference tool for ALL engineers.. great examples as well. DON't sell this book back!! ... Read more

Book Description

From the reviews of the First Edition.

"An interesting, useful, and well-written book on logistic regression models . . . Hosmer and Lemeshow have used very little mathematics, have presented difficult concepts heuristically and through illustrative examples, and have included references."
—Choice

"Well written, clearly organized, and comprehensive . . . the authors carefully walk the reader through the estimation of interpretation of coefficients from a wide variety of logistic regression models . . . their careful explication of the quantitative re-expression of coefficients from these various models is excellent."
—Contemporary Sociology

"An extremely well-written book that will certainly prove an invaluable acquisition to the practicing statistician who finds other literature on analysis of discrete data hard to follow or heavily theoretical."
—The Statistician

In this revised and updated edition of their popular book, David Hosmer and Stanley Lemeshow continue to provide an amazingly accessible introduction to the logistic regression model while incorporating advances of the last decade, including a variety of software packages for the analysis of data sets. Hosmer and Lemeshow extend the discussion from biostatistics and epidemiology to cutting-edge applications in data mining and machine learning, guiding readers step-by-step through the use of modeling techniques for dichotomous data in diverse fields. Ample new topics and expanded discussions of existing material are accompanied by a wealth of real-world examples-with extensive data sets available over the Internet. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

update of very well written and popular text
Hosmer and Lemeshow point to the massive growth in applications of logistic regression over a ten year period from the time of publication of the first edition of their text. They found over 1000 articles that used logistic regression during that time frame. There also have been many software advances that make it easier to apply logistic regression. The authors do their computing mostly in STATA. But they also acquaint the reader with many other useful standard packages for applying logistic regression. They also provide a web site from the publisher where data sets can be found.

New topics include the use of exact methods in logistic regression, logistic models for multinomial, ordinal and multiple response data. Also included is the use of logistic regression in the analysis of complex survey sampling data and for the modeling of matched studies.

The book is intended for a graduate course in logistic regression requiring the student to be familiar with linear regression and contingency tables. Similar in spirit and objectives to the first edition, this text also maintains the clarity of thought and presentation that these authors have a history of providing.

This is an important update to the first edition and is worth having on the bookshelf in any biostatistics library. I have my own personal copy and I think many others would also benefit by having it as a reference.

Should suit the needs of most, especially analysts
This is an excellent beginning and intermediate text on logistic regression analysis. Avoids the thorny details, but provides a wealth of references for those who are interested.

Anyone who is serious about doing logistic regression analysis should have this book.

highly regarded text on logistic regression
This is a very popular and well written text on logistic regression. The topic is very useful to biostatisticians. Hosmer and Lemeshow have taught some short course out of the text which have been well received. The authors are knowledgeable and thorough. The book is very much oriented toward real applications and does not require advanced mathematics.

A valuable tool for the applied statistician.
This book is widely considered the "bible" of logistic regression analysis. It provides an accessible introduction to the theory of logistic modeling, and gives in-depth coverage of the proper use of the method, including interpretation, diagnostics, and practical considerations. Indispensable for anyone who uses logistic regression in their work. ... Read more

Book Description

Elementary Statistics: A Brief Version is written for students in the beginning statistics course whose mathematical background is limited to basic algebra. The book uses a nontheoretical approach in which concepts are explained intuitively and supported by examples for your student. There are no formal proofs in the book. The applications are general in nature and the exercises include problems from agriculture, biology, business, economics, education, psychology, engineering, medicine, sociology, and computer science. The learning system found in Elementary Statistics: A Brief Version provides your student with a valuable framework in which to learn and apply concepts! ... Read more

Reviews (4)

The best stats book available.
This is by far the best stats book I've found. I actually used this book instead of the one assigned for my graduate course. Everything is explained very clearly from step 1 and on. The book assumes you have very little or no stats knowledge. There are plenty of examples to further clarify each concept, and full explanations are provided. The book is very well-written and the chapters are well connected.

I also found the pictures/graphics extremely helpful, especially in the sections on probability. I can finally make sense of combinations and permutations and other probability concepts.

Also extremely helpful is the way the book explains which formulas to use when, and why they should be used in that instance. This helps to pull everything together and see how many of the concepts relate to one another. I think this is key to understanding stats.

I've gone from fearing stats to actually enjoying it, all because it now makes sense thanks in large part to this book.

Excellent Book - A must have
I have read many statistics books but never one I understand on the first read. This book is for the true beginner. Excellent.

easy step to understand statistics
easy steps approaching to statistics and good examples to practice the text.

Excellent presentations and examples!
This books has great presentations, diagrams, and examples of concepts in elementary statistics and probability. It is thorough, yet easy to read. Students will enjoy examples that they can relate to. ... Read more

Book Description

Stata is a powerful data analysis software. This handbook was designed to bridge the gap between textbooks and Stata's own documentation. In this intermediary role, STATISTICS WITH STATA uses easy to follow tutorials to demonstrate how to use Stata to accomplish some of the most common statistical tasks. While Stata's user documentation is over 4,000 pages, this tidy manual is just 400 pages, and introduces students and practitioners to both basic and advanced features of Stata. ... Read more

Book Description

David Howell's practical approach focuses on the context of statistics in behavioral research, with an emphasis on looking at data before jumping into a test. This provides students with an understanding of the logic behind the statistics: why and how certain methods are used rather than just doing techniques by rote. Students move beyond number crunching to discover the meaning of statistical results and how they relate to the research questions being asked. FUNDAMENTAL STATISTICS FOR THE BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES contains an abundance of real data and research studies as a base and moves through an analysis of data. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

A clear and comprehensive introductory statistics text
I have been using this text for Levels 1, 2, and 3 social sciences statistics teaching in Britain and abroad for over 8 years now. Although I have tried using other introductory texts, I have yet to find a text as comprehensive and as clearly written as this.

The worst stats book for the social sciences
I hate to be so critical, but I must agree with my colleague who described his/her harrowing experience with this textbook. I have two rules about learning statistics: no one is ever above a review of the most basic topics and an author/professor can never go wrong by providing a variety of examples within the same topic area.

superbly-written and serious intorduction
I've been using the 3rd edition for several years now, and I just think it's an extraordinarily clear, concise, and well-written book. Howell is better at presenting the basic statistical concepts (of ANOVA, for example) than any other author I've seen.

Other introductory books (such as Runyon's "Fundamentals of Behavioral Statistics") may provide more advanced treatments or cover more material, but in general they end up being long-winded and unfocused. Howell's book is crisp.

And in case you're wondering about the title, statistical methods for the behavioral sciences are not different than statistical methods in any other quantitative discipline. It's just that Howell draws his examples from psychology, sociology, etc., and may make mention of some of the conventions used by researchers in these fields.

A rare jewel
This may be the single best textbook I have ever used, or it may just seem that way because of the difficulty most stat textbooks have in explaining their concepts. Unfortunately, I only discovered it after two semesters of incoherent text books and bad teaching; it was only later, through his book, that I got the entire picture. Howell starts with the "why?" of statistical tests (necssary, but often not done), takes you through the equations relatively painlessly, and provides realistic commentary on actual uses, strengths and weaknesses, and controversies surrounding statistical techniques. I now tutor in statistics (really), and I just rely on Howell for the simplest and best method of explication. Now, if only he wrote an advanced text...

An outstanding introductory text in statistics.
This text is the most clearly written and useful of four different introductory statistics texts that I have examined. Its emphasis on insight rather than rote learning of formulae makes the subject easily understood and retained.

This book is a "keeper".

The author stresses the use of computers discusses several statistics programs available. He also thoughtfully provides exercise data for input to several a computer program. It is unfortunate, however, that he failed to mention the most powerful of these programs on the market today. I hope that he will examine this in future editions. ... 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 book gives the reader important accounts of basic statistical procedures used in clinical trials. It covers several areas of study, including biostatics, biomathematics, biometry and epidemiology. There is emphasis for trialists to learn good methodology while giving quality clinical treatment. Discusses and explores controversial issues such as ethics and offers pragmatic information regarding allegations of fraud or misconduct. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

presents clinical trials issues and methodology clearly
This book is very unique. Basic statistical concepts are clearly presented but only those concepts that are important in clinical trials. The author presents all the issues with clinical trials including ethical issues with some historical perspective. Principles of randomization and statistical design are clearly presented. It offers discussion of Bayesian techniques and meta-analyses, cross-over designs and group sequential methods (interim analyses). For statisticians doing clinical research like myself, this is a valuable reference source.

The best start in clinical trial
The amount of knowledge and the scope of this book are the exact need for the first contact with clinical trials. Yet, it is not a simple or superficial text. Instead, it not only will guide the reader through the basics of trials (and there is so much that is not basic in it) but the author points the reader to hundreds of papers and books that are landmarks. I regard this book itself as one of these landmarks!

Most up-to-date and thorough cover of Clinical Trials
Covers many aspects of trials (particularly facets of design and analysis)not yet covered by other books, eg randomisation with minimisation, and meta-analysis of trial results. Readable, applicable, practical, good references, well structured. ... Read more

Book Description

INTRODUCTION TO PROBABILITY AND STATISTICS is one of the first texts published by Duxbury and has been blending innovation with tradition for over thirty years. It was the first statistics text to include case studies in it, and now in the eleventh edition, this text is the first to include java applets in the body of the text. It has been used by hundreds of thousands of students since its first edition. This new edition retains the excellent examples, exercises and exposition that have made it a market leader, and builds upon this tradition of excellence with new technology integration. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Very poorly written.
I had to buy this book for an introductory graduate stats class. This book assumes you have some knowledge of stats and so provides very brief explanations for most concepts. This is a big problem for students with little or no stats background.

Another problem is that there are too few examples. Considering their meager explanations, one would hope they would at least provide enough examples to help students understand the concepts. But they usually provide only one or two problems, which are woefully inadequate.

Also, the CD is totally useless. Most of the practice is multiple choice, which I think is pretty silly for a stats class. In addition, there is no explanation for how they got to the answer, so if you can't figure it out and choose the wrong answer, you're out of luck for any explanation.

I stopped using this book for my course and instead began using Elementary Statistics, A Step by Step Approach by Bluman. This book is excellent; it explains everything from step 1. There are also many, many examples and lots of pictures to help you further understand stats. Also, they explain very clearly when you should use the different formulas, which I found extremely helpful in bringing all the concepts together.

Disappointing
The text we used for our undergrad Stats class covered the exact same material as this text, which we used for a graduate level class and which cost about 60 bucks more, but the undergrad text was written more clearly, concisely and logically.We even found a mistake in one of the tables in the back of this book.

An "easy" introduction but lacks content
Author: Computer Science/Mathematics Undergraduate at Cameron University

This book was required for an introductory non-calculus based statistics course at my school and it turned out to be a mixed bag.The theories are explained well in most cases but the book doesn't have enough examples for all of the theorems.Many times only one case is explained in dynamic situations leaving this reader more than a little lost.Usually the theorems are explained well enough that this is not a big deal, but not so in every case.So there tends to be those points where the student may get a little stuck without assistance from their professor.

Another problem I found was that the book was a little bit dumbed down in many areas.This book uses no calculus, so the theories are presented often without the mathematical rigor required to properly formulate accurate results.The book still presents the theorems and formulas in a way where the student can get something out of this without calculus, but it becomes a problem later in the book in the sections on regression.For a non-calculus based class like the one I took, this is all unavoidable, so the book handled the situation well considering the constraints.

This book presents a very light introduction to statistics and is good prep for more advanced statistics courses, but as a stand-alone only the most basic material is presented since it is non-calculus based and the material is spread thin between combinatorics, probability, binomial distributions, normal distributions, t distributions, ANOVA tests, regression, non-parametric statistics, etc... To attain a significant amount of useful knowledge you really need to buy separate books tackling each of these subjects independantly, so this book is really unneccessary even for an introductory text but might serve well the student who needs to be eased into statistics lightly or just wants a brief overview of the subject.

Very good as a required text
This was the required text for a 2003 graduate Biostatistics course, so you should already know the basics.If you don't, buy the Study Guide and Solutions Manual to help you out. ... Read more

Book Description

Already the number one text on health policy and rapidly becoming a classic, Understanding Health Policy: A Clinical Approach 3E covers such fundamental topics as cost containment, health insurance, managed care, and physician and hospital payment. Extensive case histories, drawn from the authors' actual practice, bring to life important policy issues by pinpointing individual encounters within the healthcare system.

New to this Edition

* More information on 2-tier model of reimbursement
* Greater emphasis on defined contribution approach to controlling costs
* Includes comparative information on health care policy in Canada, the UK, and Germany
* "Questions & Discussion Topics" provided for each chapter to stimulate classroom discussion

Please consider this important new edition for your course.Your students will gain an engaging text, that according to a review by the Journal of Health, Politics, Policy, and Law of the prior edition, "goes a long way toward helping readers understand how the health care system has worked in the past, how it is changing, and how it might work under different scenarios in the future." ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Must Know Knowledge For MD's To Be
This book was a requirment for my medical school curriculum. Once I started reading this book, I couldn't put it down. I've never read any other books on health policy, so I don't have anything to compare it to, but I thought it was an excellent books. It is very well written, very easy to understand and extremely informative. I believe anyone interested in health care, medicine, etc. should obtain the knowledge in this book and what better source than "Understanding Health Policy".

Get ahead in life
I read this book when I was transitioning from undergrad to PA school. It turned out to be a great move. From what I've seen so far, health policy is a very relevant topic with both the school of medicine and PA school. And why wouldn't it be?!
The only drawback with this book is that it has way too many vignettes. They're very real, but after awhile, I just skimmed over them.
If you're beginning your professional studies, I also recommend picking up a medical terminology, anatomy, and pathophysiology book. Good luck to ya!

Difficult to find a better overview for students
I used this book in undergraduate health policy programs and in one health care administration graduate elective. The majority of students found it to be a useful introduction to the difficult area of health policy. By incorporating pertinent examples and graphs students found the text more understandable and useful than say other required readings like Paul Starr's classic. Whatever their level of understanding coming into class, students were able to glean valuable information and insight.

My reservation is similar to many books, e.g., by the time of publication much has changed. However, there is relevant material and with supplements this will remain a valuable resource.

Good resource book!
This is a very good resource book for understanding the healthcare policy process. I think all undergraduate nursing students could benefit from having this book in their collection. ... Read more

Book Description

This practical book reflects the new technological emphasis that permeates differential equations, including the wide availability of scientific computing environments like Maple, Mathematica, and MATLAB; it does not concentrate on traditional manual methods but rather on new computer-based methods that lead to a wider range of more realistic applications.The book starts and ends with discussions of mathematical modeling of real-world phenomena, evident in figures, examples, problems, and applications throughout the book.For mathematicians and those in the field of computer science. ... Read more

Reviews (18)

A Good Text, Typos Aside
I am currently using this text for an intro level differential equations course, and I feel that this book is well suited as such. It should be easily acessible to anyone with a basic intro calculus foundation and it is ideal for self-study. On the other hand, this text does contain a noticible number of typos, both in "back-of-the-book" answers and example problems. A potential reader should note that this book is fairly applied in its nature (as the title would indicate--engineers take delight, theoreticians take dismay), so one shouldn't expect more than an introduction to the theory of differential equations (ie. don't expect much proof or mathematical rigour).

Very Good Book
I don't know why everyone else attacks this book! I used it in a third semester math class at Cornell which was 1/3 vector calc (we used Thomas' Calculus, another great book), 1/3 differential equations, and 1/3 Fourier Series, partial differential equations, boundary value problems. We covered Chapters 1-3, parts of 4 and 6, and all of chapter 9.

The book is excellent. The explanations are clear. The example problems are not just "plug and play." The problems at the end of each section are not bad. I learned about oscillations and mechanical vibrations in physics and then learned about them from this book (3.4/3.6)...the difference was amazing. Their derivations made sense, and the characteristic polynomial technique they use is 1000 times simpler than the trial solution method that many introductory physics books on mechanics use.

The book's only weak point is the discussion of stability and the phase plan in 6.1. They develop it through a bunch of examples instead of talking about the general theory behind it. But this is a minor problem.

Pretty good
Not a bad book at all. Physical applications well explained, theory OK but not as good in my opinion. Unfortunately, contains a fair number of typos, and the book is physically weak (the binding of mine is splitting after only 4 months of use) for a book of this price. Still, pretty good overall.

One bad apple spoils the pair...
This book would be excellent... if it weren't for one mysterious member of the pair, Edwards or Penney who can't teach for his life and/or is lazy. I would've guessed two authors wrote this text even if they only claimed it had one author and called him edward penney... You see, every couple of sections or so there are a lot of typos and poor overly wordy "proofs" , stupid joke proofs that are almost like winking and smiling between one professor and another while the student sits there dumbfounded. One proof in particular goes: "Theorem 2 says yes!" Oh yeah? Unfortunately I am not as comfortable with math as you with your doctorate degree sir I don't just "see" the truth of a claim as you probably do -or maybe you are just bluffing. You see, I also take the types of proofs this guy does to be as though they were designed to make him look more intelligent to other professors who may be teaching out of the book. Mr. Edwards or Penney you know who this guy is! Ditch him as a fellow author for your next edition! As far as the other mysterious author, his explanations and proofs are patient and lucid and involve a good bit less words (words are nonsense! The whole point of math is to learn how to think with fewer stupid words so you can understand more fundamental and abstract ideas which cannot be expressed in words!) As a piece of advice, I would like this text to be a bit less concrete in its explanations of mathematical generalities. It weighs them down and confuses people who have an intuition for their logical consequences, it almost makes them feel constrained and stupid and it is irritating to learn about a general fact through the use of a stupid example and then have the generality taken for granted thereafter without proof!

A good differential equations textbook
I think the strength of this textbook is the amount of material it encompasses: this book is used in two separate courses in my school--introduction to DE and engineering analysis. I didn't appreciate the textbook so much until I completed my differential equations course and then looked back at the sections on mechanical vibrations to review for my physics course. I then realized that the explanations and derivations were extremely satisfying, much more than your average introductory physics text. Also, the emphasis on the qualitative aspects of DEs, such as slope fields and phase portraits, aid in the coneptual understanding of the otherwise rigorous computation aspects of the topic. My only complaint is that the proofs could've been done in a more understandable manner. ... Read more

Book Description

The product of a unique collaboration among four leading scientists in academic research and industry, Numerical Recipes is a comprehensive text and reference work on scientific computing.Thoroughly self-contained, it proceeds from mathematical and theoretical considerations to actual, practical computer routines.This new version incorporates completely new C++ versions of the more than 300 Numerical Recipes Second Edition routines widely recognized as the most accessible and practical basis for scientific computing, in addition to including the full mathematical and explanato