Statistics: Extracting Information from Data

Data are everywhere. This book introduces, in a conversational style, the foundational techniques and concepts necessary to permit the data to tell their story. You’ll learn not only about the mechanics of basic data analyses but also about when to use the methods and about the statistical concepts relevant to the meaning of the results. Several key statistical concepts are introduced early and reinforced often: the importance of randomization in collecting data, statistical inference and three distinct types (statements about cause/effect, making predictions and forecasts, and generalizing from samples to populations), interpreting the results of an analysis, and common misconceptions. Designed to be used in a one-semester course in introductory statistics, the text comes complete with problem sets for each section. Contents: Chapter 1: An Introduction to Data Chapter 2: Summarizing Data Chapter 3: Producing Data Chapter 4: Probability Chapter 5: Probability Distributions for Random Sampling Chapter 6: Hypothesis Testing Chapter 7: Confidence Intervals Chapter 8: Inference About Two Groups