Statistical Reasoning for Everyday Life (2nd Edition)

Rating:
Summary: Delivers On Its Promises
Review: This textbook is well-conceived and well-executed. The authors have a strong background in science as well as a keen interest in making technical subjects accessible to a broad audience. They have succeeded in presenting statistics with a minimum of mathematics. Emphasis is placed upon the application of these concepts to real life situations taken from news sources, the internet and individual experiences. The graphics, sidebars, focus sections and case studies are timely, relevant, engaging, lucidly written and enlightening. A one-page epilog provides a nice summary statement to the entire textbook. A glossary, index, answer key , appendices and suggestions for further reading are also included.
This is an excellent textbook for a general education student whose career would not require the direct use of statistical tools. None of the usual tables are discussed or present in this textbook, but all of the main topics are treated in a thorough and thought-provoking fashion. The authors' discussion of correlation and causality is especially good, although their definition of causality in the glossary as " the relationship present when one variable is a cause of another " is circular. Instead, the authors should reiterate their assertion from the main text that a "cause" is a "physical mechanism" based upon a "physical model" which is generally acceptable as a scientific explanation.

Rating:
Summary: Delivers On Its Promises
Review: This textbook is well-conceived and well-executed. The authors have a strong background in science as well as a keen interest in making technical subjects accessible to a broad audience. They have succeeded in presenting statistics with a minimum of mathematics. Emphasis is placed upon the application of these concepts to real life situations taken from news sources, the internet and individual experiences. The graphics, sidebars, focus sections and case studies are timely, relevant, engaging, lucidly written and enlightening. A one-page epilog provides a nice summary statement to the entire textbook. A glossary, index, answer key , appendices and suggestions for further reading are also included.
This is an excellent textbook for a general education student whose career would not require the direct use of statistical tools. None of the usual tables are discussed or present in this textbook, but all of the main topics are treated in a thorough and thought-provoking fashion. The authors' discussion of correlation and causality is especially good, although their definition of causality in the glossary as " the relationship present when one variable is a cause of another " is circular. Instead, the authors should reiterate their assertion from the main text that a "cause" is a "physical mechanism" based upon a "physical model" which is generally acceptable as a scientific explanation.