Cartoon Guide to Statistics

Rating:
Summary: A Good Introduction
Review: "The Cartoon Guide to Statistics" by Larry Gonick and Woollcott Smith was published in 1993. This book is a good introductory level look at Statistics. The authors cover what Statistics is, what the history of the subject is, and a look at some theories, terms, and applications of the subject.

The weakness of the book is that there are a lot of formulas given, and not enough discussion of the formulas, so one would need to use other statistics texts to supplement the material, so this book cannot stand alone in that respect. On the other hand, if one is just trying to get an overview, there is a lot to skip over. The authors do make fun of the formulas, and the amount of math so those that are looking for an overview may enjoy the humorous presentation. There is also a lot to do with the subject that the book covers. It does cover probabilities, but when it comes to distributions it really focuses on Standard Normal distributions. I don't believe it ever mentions Uniform, Poisson, or other types of distributions which most statistic courses do cover.

The best part of the book is the examples, some of which are carried through for several chapters to help the reader better understand the subject. Although, even with the examples they are a bit inconsistent in how complete they are. For example, in one case they started to discuss the use of statistics to compare the salaries of male and female employees in the same job, but they never completed the discussion. The examples of racial bias in jury selection, and the gas mileage comparison of two different types of gas are much better. This is a decent book, but not up to the level of Gonick's excellent "Cartoon History of the Universe" series, and not strong enough to give it more than three stars.

Rating:
Summary: Too complicated for the average person to understand!
Review: After reading the reviews on this book, I purchased it, thinking it would be helpful in clarifying research and basic statistical concepts for me (it's been years since my college statistics courses). Most reviewers seemed to imply that the book presented statistical concepts in ways that would be easy for the average person to understand. However, I found it to be complicated and difficult! I was disappointed in this book, because I struggled to get through it and still don't know any more about general statistical principles than I did before I read it. The book uses numerous mathematical equations without clear enough explanations, which left me totally perplexed. Perhaps the contents and explanations are clear to mathematicians and statisticians, but I think the average person will have a difficult time understanding the content of this book and deriving any benefit from it.

Rating:
Summary: Students highly recommend this book!
Review: As a professor who teaches both undergraduate and graduate level statistics classes, I recommend this book to my students as a supplement to the basic texts I use in class. Several students have told me that this book really helped them understand basic statistical concepts. Let's face it: statistics is boring for most students. Humor can help students make the leap from fear to understanding. This book is a great help!

Rating:
Summary: cute introduction to statistical concepts
Review: As a statistician and instructor I commonly teach statistical methods to non-statisticians. After giving a 20 lecture course at a medical device company, it was suggested to me that I try to teach it like Gonick... Many of the cartoons are instuctive and can be useful in lectures that deal with the topics described but no course should be based solely on this book! The cartoons are also very useful to liven up statistical lectures. See my later review for an example of how I used the cartoons on p-values.

This text does touch on many new and important topics and covers them in a reasonably accurate and light way. It is really very good at livening up statistical lectures or to supplement course materials. This is particularly helpful for those who are afraid of mathematics and/or statistics.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding, Correct, and Fun
Review: As a teacher of statistics at the college level, I've recommended Gonick and Smith to many students who were struggling with their traditional textbook. It presents an authoritative body of material in a clear and fun manner. It would be a good text for teaching a college statistics course, except that it lacks practice problem sets and examples on how to work problems. If you have an interest in understanding statistics but don't want to take a formal class, this is an excellent resource.

Rating:
Summary: Good Primer
Review: As many other have noted, this is a good primer on a wide variety of statistical tools presented in a unique format. It should help any student of statistics, mathematically challenged working professionals, or non-fiction skeptics get a good overview and understanding of some difficult statistical concepts. Example data sets are small so as not to confuse with overwhelming amounts of data. A one star hit from me for a couple of reasons. 1. I did have a little trouble with meaning on occasion as grammatical errors do force one to pause here and there to try and figure out what the author is trying to say. A missing comma makes a huge difference in meaning. 2. The book is in desperate need of an update (copyright is 1993). Most examples are calculated in long form. Fine for understanding the mechanics and the author does make one or two references to Minitab; however, the book needs a bit of a makeover with more frequent reference to very commonly available statistical software packages. Minitab is powerful but expensive. Most people have Excel which can be easily utilized for most basic to intermediate statistical needs.

That said, the author does keep it interesting with factoids peppered throughout. The main concepts are highlighted well with good examples. The end of the book provides short descriptions of lesser used but still very important concepts. Chapter ten on "Experimental Design" is really more of a tease then anything else. Fair enough because "Design of Experiments" (DOE) would have been tough to fully explore in this format anyway. Overall this book is well done and provides clear explanation of what many might consider difficult to understand concepts found in a traditional statistics textbook.

Rating:
Summary: Not a beginners guide to statistics
Review: Don't be fooled into thinking this book would be a good first step at learning statistics. While the cartoons are good "refreshers", they are definately not for beginners. The chapters of the book that deal with probabilities are exceptionally complex and unhelpful. My suggestion, buy SPSS for your computer and use the "help guide" included.

Rating:
Summary: Difficult to follow
Review: Excellent idea but difficult to follow due to the presentation of material. I would not recommend this book for students who are having difficulty understanding basic statistics. Perhaps it would be useful to supplement learning for individuals who possess basic statistical knowledge.

Rating:
Summary: This book got me through behavioral statistics!
Review: Gosh this is a great book! I was a complete number phobic before grabbing this book to help me out with a statistics course. It helped remove the "black box" mystique and "I suck at math" perceptions that were causing me to avoid mathematics. With the help of this book (and a rather nifty statistics professor at TESC) I moved on to become a statistics tutor. This book taught me that math can be fun, easy to comprehend, and not scary at all! Viva the Cartoon Guide to Statistics!!!

Rating:
Summary: This book got me through behavioral statistics!
Review: Gosh this is a great book! I was a complete number phobic before grabbing this book to help me out with a statistics course. It helped remove the "black box" mystique and "I suck at math" perceptions that were causing me to avoid mathematics. With the help of this book (and a rather nifty statistics professor at TESC) I moved on to become a statistics tutor. This book taught me that math can be fun, easy to comprehend, and not scary at all! Viva the Cartoon Guide to Statistics!!!