Spss 8.0 Guide to Data Analysis

Rating:
Summary: Excellent companion for Statistics Text
Review: I found this book to be an excellent companion to my college statistics text. If you're taking either a statistics, research or experimental social science course that requires the use of SPSS, this book is for you. I have the student version of SPSS which has a lot of online tutorials and help sections, but comes with very little hard copy documentation. This book helped me become more comfortable with using SPSS. The book is designed to be worked thru using the exercises and disk that's included. The explanations are easy to understand and the examples add to your understanding. The layout of the book makes it easy on the eyes, which is a real plus if you're working with statistics. I only wish I had this book before I took my first statistics class!

Rating:
Summary: Clear, concise, thorough, practical
Review: If your goal is to develop a solid understanding of statistics and their application, then this is one book you will want to have in your library. It is clearly written, yet concise. It thoroughly covers the contents of a first course in graduate level statistics, using real data contained on the enclosed diskette and SPSS 8.0. Included are step-by-step descriptions of each statistical technique in enough detail to understand the purpose and application of each, followed by how to use SPSS 8.0 to apply the statistical technique.

Don't buy a statistics book that doesn't cover the use of a contemporary statistics software package. This subject is valuable only if you know how to apply it, and Marija Norusis shows you how to do so.

I also bought Green, Salkind, and Akey at the same time. It's much more obtuse than Norusis, but does describe how to write up results in APA format. For that purpose alone, it's a valuable complement to Norusis. However, if you only want to buy one statistics book, buy Norusis!

Rating:
Summary: Go nowhere else for SPSS statistics !!
Review: Save your money! This is the only book you need to buy! This book serves three purposes very well: (1) It provides good introduction to statistics (descriptive and inferential); (2) Shows every step in SPSS - including graphs and plots; (3) Full of exercises - including fill-in the blanks and analyse-yourself (disk included). I've tried "Using Spss for Windows : Analyzing and Understanding Data" by Samuel B. Green before, which is fine but terse. Green's book is a must buy if you're interested in how to prepare APA results. Once again, Marja J. Norusis' is the only book you need!