Authors: Deborah Rumsey
ISBN-13: 9780764554230, ISBN-10: 0764554239
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Wiley, John & Sons, Incorporated
Date Published: August 2003
Edition: (Non-applicable)
Deborah Rumsey earned her Ph.D. in statistics from Ohio State University (OSU) in 1993. Upon graduating, she joined the faculty in the Department of Statistics at Kansas State University, winning the distinguished Presidential Teaching Award and earning tenure and promotion in 1998. In 2000, she returned to OSU as the Director of the Mathematics and Statistics Learning Center, where she is today. Deb is the Editor of the “Teaching Bits” of the Journal of Statistics Education; she has also published papers and given professional presentations on the subject of statistics education, with a particular emphasis on statistical literacy (skills for understanding statistics in everyday life and the workplace) and immersive learning environments (environments that promote students’ discovery of ideas on their own). Her passions include fishing, bird watching, and Ohio State Buckeye football (not necessarily in that order).
In the numbers explosion all around us in our modern-day dealings, the buzzword is data, as in, “Do you have any data to support your claim?” “The data supported the original hypothesis that . . .” and “The data bear this out. . . .” But the field of statistics is not just about data. Statistics is the entire process involved in gathering evidence to answer questions about the world, in cases where that evidence happens to be numerical data.
Statistics For Dummies is for everyone who wants to sort through and evaluate the incredible amount of statistical information that comes to them on a daily basis. (You know the stuff: charts, graphs, tables, as well as headlines that talk about the results of the latest poll, survey, experiment, or other scientific study.) This book arms you with the ability to decipher and make important decisions about statistical results, being ever aware of the ways in which people can mislead you with statistics. Get the inside scoop on number-crunching nuances, plus insight into how you can
This down-to-earth reference is chock-full of real examples from real sources that are relevant to your everyday life: from the latest medical breakthroughs, crime studies, and population trends to surveys on Internet dating, cell phone use, and the worst cars of the millennium. Statistics For Dummies departs from traditional statistics texts, references, supplement books, andstudy guides in the following ways:
Chances are, Statistics For Dummies will be your No. 1 resource for discovering how numerical data figures into your corner of the universe.
Introduction | 1 | |
About This Book | 1 | |
Conventions Used in This Book | 2 | |
Foolish Assumptions | 2 | |
How This Book Is Organized | 3 | |
Icons Used in This Book | 5 | |
Where to Go from Here | 6 | |
Part I | Vital Statistics about Statistics | 7 |
Chapter 1 | The Statistics of Everyday Life | 9 |
Statistics and the Media Blitz: More Questions than Answers? | 9 | |
Using Statistics at Work | 17 | |
Chapter 2 | Statistics Gone Wrong | 21 |
Taking Control: So Many Numbers, So Little Time | 21 | |
Detecting Errors, Exaggerations, and Just Plain Lies | 22 | |
Feeling the Impact of Misleading Statistics | 36 | |
Chapter 3 | Tools of the Trade | 39 |
Statistics: More than Just Numbers | 39 | |
Grabbing Some Basic Statistical Jargon | 41 | |
Part II | Number-Crunching Basics | 59 |
Chapter 4 | Getting the Picture: Charts and Graphs | 61 |
Getting Graphic with Statistics | 61 | |
Getting a Piece of the Pie Chart | 62 | |
Raising the Bar on Bar Graphs | 72 | |
Putting Statistics on the Table | 76 | |
Keeping Pace with Time Charts | 83 | |
Picturing Data with a Histogram | 86 | |
Chapter 5 | Means, Medians, and More | 97 |
Summing Up Data with Statistics | 97 | |
Summarizing Categorical Data | 98 | |
Summarizing Numerical Data | 101 | |
Part III | Determining the Odds | 115 |
Chapter 6 | What Are the Chances? Understanding Probability | 117 |
Taking a Chance with Probability | 117 | |
Gaining the Edge: Probability Basics | 119 | |
Interpreting Probability | 124 | |
Avoiding Probability Misconceptions | 124 | |
Connecting Probability with Statistics | 127 | |
Chapter 7 | Gambling to Win | 131 |
Betting on the House: Why Casinos Stay in Business | 131 | |
Knowing a Little Probability Helps a Lotto | 133 | |
Part IV | Wading through the Results | 141 |
Chapter 8 | Measures of Relative Standing | 143 |
Straightening Out the Bell Curve | 143 | |
Converting to a Standard Score | 151 | |
Sizing Up Results Using Percentiles | 156 | |
Chapter 9 | Caution: Sample Results Vary! | 161 |
Expecting Sample Results to Vary | 161 | |
Measuring Variability in Sample Results | 162 | |
Examining Factors That Influence Variability in Sample Results | 174 | |
Chapter 10 | Leaving Room for a Margin of Error | 177 |
Exploring the Importance of That Plus or Minus | 177 | |
Finding the Margin of Error: A General Formula | 179 | |
Determining the Impact of Sample Size | 184 | |
Limiting the Margin of Error | 186 | |
Part V | Guesstimating with Confidence | 189 |
Chapter 11 | The Business of Estimation: Interpreting and Evaluating Confidence Intervals | 191 |
Realizing That Not All Estimates Are Created Equal | 192 | |
Linking a Statistic to a Parameter | 193 | |
Making Your Best Guesstimate | 194 | |
Interpreting Results with Confidence | 194 | |
Spotting Misleading Confidence Intervals | 195 | |
Chapter 12 | Calculating Accurate Confidence Intervals | 197 |
Calculating a Confidence Interval | 197 | |
Choosing a Confidence Level | 199 | |
Zooming In on Width | 200 | |
Factoring In the Sample Size | 201 | |
Counting On Population Variability | 203 | |
Chapter 13 | Commonly Used Confidence Intervals: Formulas and Examples | 205 |
Calculating the Confidence Interval for the Population Mean | 205 | |
Determining the Confidence Interval for the Population Proportion | 207 | |
Developing a Confidence Interval for the Difference of Two Means | 208 | |
Coming Up with the Confidence Interval for the Difference of Two Proportions | 210 | |
Part VI | Putting a Claim to the (Hypothesis) Test | 213 |
Chapter 14 | Claims, Tests, and Conclusions | 215 |
Responding to Claims: Some Do's and Don'ts | 216 | |
Doing a Hypothesis Test | 219 | |
Weighing the Evidence and Making Decisions: P-Values | 223 | |
Knowing That You Could Be Wrong: Errors in Testing | 226 | |
Walking through a Hypothesis Test: The Big Picture | 229 | |
Chapter 15 | Commonly Used Hypothesis Tests: Formulas and Examples | 237 |
Testing One Population Mean | 238 | |
Testing One Population Proportion | 239 | |
Comparing Two (Separate) Population Averages | 240 | |
Testing for an Average Difference (Paired Data) | 242 | |
Comparing Two Population Proportions | 245 | |
Part VII | Statistical Studies: The Inside Scoop | 249 |
Chapter 16 | Polls, Polls, and More Polls | 251 |
Recognizing the Impact of Polls | 251 | |
Behind the Scenes: The Ins and Outs of Surveys | 256 | |
Chapter 17 | Experiments: Medical Breakthroughs or Misleading Results? | 267 |
Determining What Sets Experiments Apart | 268 | |
Designing a Good Experiment | 269 | |
Making Informed Decisions about Experiments | 279 | |
Chapter 18 | Looking for Links: Correlations and Associations | 281 |
Picturing the Relationship: Plots and Charts | 282 | |
Quantifying the Relationship: Correlations and Other Measures | 287 | |
Explaining the Relationship: Association and Correlation versus Causation | 291 | |
Making Predictions: Regression and Other Methods | 291 | |
Chapter 19 | Statistics and Toothpaste: Quality Control | 297 |
Full-Filling Expectations | 297 | |
Squeezing Quality out of a Toothpaste Tube | 299 | |
Part VIII | The Part of Tens | 309 |
Chapter 20 | Ten Criteria for a Good Survey | 311 |
The Target Population Is Well Defined | 311 | |
The Sample Matches the Target Population | 312 | |
The Sample Is Randomly Selected | 313 | |
The Sample Size Is Large Enough | 313 | |
Good Follow-Up Minimizes Non-Response | 314 | |
The Type of Survey Used Is Appropriate | 315 | |
The Questions Are Well Worded | 316 | |
The Survey Is Properly Timed | 317 | |
The Survey Personnel Are Well Trained | 318 | |
The Survey Answers the Original Question | 319 | |
Chapter 21 | Ten Common Statistical Mistakes | 321 |
Misleading Graphs | 321 | |
Biased Data | 324 | |
No Margin of Error | 325 | |
Non-Random Samples | 326 | |
Missing Sample Sizes | 327 | |
Misinterpreted Correlations | 327 | |
Confounding Variables | 328 | |
Botched Numbers | 329 | |
Selectively Reporting Results | 330 | |
The Almighty Anecdote | 331 | |
Appendix | Sources | 333 |
Index | 341 |