<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: A great book for applied stats and econometrics
Review: I own a number of econometric and statistics texts, but this is easily the most comprehensive and probably the most important stats book that I own. Not only does it cover just about every stat concept one would need for doing applied research, but it teaches the reader how to think logically and clearly about econometrics problems. It teaches the reader how to properly integrate economic theory and statistical information for conducting good research. If you want to learn applied econometrics the proper way, read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Spanos -- bigger, better
Review: Like many, I used the 1986 big green Spanos book to learn econometrics. Simply put, this latest follows the course charted by the first book -- it first covers probability theory, and then uses this to motivate the modelling portion of the book. Unlike the 1986 book, which was terse in places, this monograph is much more comprehensive. It isn't so much that new subjects are covered (though some are), but the current treatment far surpasses the 1986 book. More graphs, to aid geometric intution, are included. More text discusses the implications of the mathematics. More useful, in short, for a graduate student trying to learn econometrics. The only book I think is in this class is DeGroot, and that book suffers from little attention paid to econometrics (though it does do the probability material quite well).Highly, highly recommended. And one other bonus: Spanos discusses in the introduction why he refuses to water things down, and even has a quote from the mathemetician Binmore.
Rating:
Summary: Spanos -- bigger, better
Review: Like many, I used the 1986 big green Spanos book to learn econometrics. Simply put, this latest follows the course charted by the first book -- it first covers probability theory, and then uses this to motivate the modelling portion of the book. Unlike the 1986 book, which was terse in places, this monograph is much more comprehensive. It isn't so much that new subjects are covered (though some are), but the current treatment far surpasses the 1986 book. More graphs, to aid geometric intution, are included. More text discusses the implications of the mathematics. More useful, in short, for a graduate student trying to learn econometrics. The only book I think is in this class is DeGroot, and that book suffers from little attention paid to econometrics (though it does do the probability material quite well). Highly, highly recommended. And one other bonus: Spanos discusses in the introduction why he refuses to water things down, and even has a quote from the mathemetician Binmore.
Rating:
Summary: the best foundation in stats imaginable
Review: This book is absolutely remarkable. It presents the material traditionally taught in the second-year statistics (but actually goes well beyond, e.g. stochastic processes) and will be of interest to all people interested to (re-)learn statistics well, either undergraduates, or advanced students of any level. Professors should also read it maybe use it in class. Students will thank them. The author took more than 14 years to polish it, and I would bet that scholars of pedagogy will put this book as an example of the highest possible level of their discipline. I would also bet that this book will have a long and brilliant career in statistical education. On gets the feeling that the author gave the same care and energy to the elaboration of this book as people commonly give to research. The author is also a man with a mission. In his preface, one can read with pleasure and disbelief a passionate attack on the dumbing-down of undergraduate education in Europe and America. Having taught undergrads in commerce with the "predigested pap" he is talking about, I can really relate to the frustration of the author. There is no dilution of material or dumbing down here: all the ugly details are given, which makes that book not only a pedagogical tool but also a great reference. There is no book on the market that is so polished in both presentation and discussion, that exposes intermediate stats at such an intelligent, comprehensive level, and finally that uses the historical development to project such clarity on the actual state of the science. I would say the closest competitor to this book is the great volume "Intermediate Statistics" by Dale Poirier, which has more econometrics and which might be a bit more comprehensive on the bayesian side, but the main focus of this one is on UNDERSTANDING and SYNTHESIZING. By the way, the focus of this book is statistics, not econometrics, despite the fact that the author has written extensively in econometrics. I wish I would be an undergrad again and re-learn statistics with this book. Nevertheless, readers of all levels will learn something from it. Ah, and the price is right. Value for your money!
<< 1 >>
| 
