Statistics for Management and Economics: Abbreviated Sixth Edition

Rating:
Summary: Above average, but that's not saying much for b-stat texts
Review: I have taught MBA Stats using this book for 3 semesters. I have looked carefully at many others, and taught with some of them. Here are some thoughts about Keller/Warrack:

PROS:

All the important topics are covered, and many unimportant ones.

The writing is almost always very clear. The writing is not as good as some economics textbooks I've taught with, but this is true of almost all business statistics textbooks I've seen.

There are plenty of end-of-chapter and end-of-section exercises covering all the key concepts.

Cosmetics - the book has a neat, uncluttered appearance, and the use of color is effective and not distracting. I think this stuff matters, for getting the students to be comfortable spending time with the book, and not making them confused or overwhelmed.

One of the authors, Gerald Keller, is very prompt at returning my emails.

CONS:

Some of the in-text Excel instructions are 90% but not 100% accurate or sufficient.

The "real-world" examples in the probability theory chapters are contrived and unrealistic. This is true of most business stat textbooks, whose authors can't seem to accept that the purpose of these chapters is NOT to illuminate the behavior of the business world, but rather to provide a foundation for a deep understanding of statistical inference (which DOES illuminate the business world extremely well).

The solutions manual has a fair number of mistakes. I'd be more understanding if this was a 1st or 2nd edition, but it's a 6th edition!!! There really is no excuse.

At the end of every semester, I survey my students to get their opinions on various aspects of the textbook. They rate Keller/Warrack acceptable but are not crazy about it. I agree, and have continued using it only because the abundant alternatives are generally mediocre.


Rating:
Summary: Unclear
Review: I used this book a semester ago in my probability class and I must say this is one of the worst textbooks I've come across with. There are plenty of exercises in the book and like the reviewer above said, it covers a lot. However, my friends and I all find the explanations are unclear and unhelpful.