Naked statistics : stripping the dread from the data / Charles Wheelan.
Material type:
TextPublication details: New York : W.W. Norton & Company, [2013]Edition: First editionDescription: xviii, 282 pages : illustrations ; 25 cmISBN: - 9780393071955 (hardcover)
- 0393071952 (hardcover)
- 519.5 WHE
| Item type | Current library | Call number | Copy number | Status | Date due | Barcode | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard Loan | Moylish Library Main Collection | 519.5 WHE (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | 1 | Available | 39002100480822 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
Once considered tedious, the field of statistics is rapidly evolving into a discipline Hal Varian, chief economist at Google, has actually called "sexy." From batting averages and political polls to game shows and medical research, the real-world application of statistics continues to grow by leaps and bounds. How can we catch schools that cheat on standardized tests? How does Netflix know which movies you'll like? What is causing the rising incidence of autism? As best-selling author Charles Wheelan shows us in Naked Statistics, the right data and a few well-chosen statistical tools can help us answer these questions and more.
For those who slept through Stats 101, this book is a lifesaver. Wheelan strips away the arcane and technical details and focuses on the underlying intuition that drives statistical analysis. He clarifies key concepts such as inference, correlation, and regression analysis, reveals how biased or careless parties can manipulate or misrepresent data, and shows us how brilliant and creative researchers are exploiting the valuable data from natural experiments to tackle thorny questions.
And in Wheelan's trademark style, there's not a dull page in sight. You'll encounter clever Schlitz Beer marketers leveraging basic probability, an International Sausage Festival illuminating the tenets of the central limit theorem, and a head-scratching choice from the famous game show Let's Make a Deal--and you'll come away with insights each time. With the wit, accessibility, and sheer fun that turned Naked Economics into a bestseller, Wheelan defies the odds yet again by bringing another essential, formerly unglamorous discipline to life.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 261-267) and index.
Introduction : Why I hated calculus but love statistics -- What\'s the point? -- Descriptive statistics : Who was the best baseball player of all time? -- Deceptive description : He\'s got a great personality! and other true but grossly misleading statements -- Correlation : How does Netflix know what movies I like? -- Basic probability : Don\'t buy the extended warranty on your $99 printer -- The Monty Hall problem -- Problems with probability : How overconfident math geeks nearly destroyed the global financial system -- The importance of data : Garbage in, garbage out -- The central limit theorem : The Lebron James of statistics -- Inference : Why my statistics professor thought I might have cheated -- Polling : How we know that 64 percent of Americans support the death penalty (with a sampling error (plus or minus) 3 percent) -- Regression analysis : The miracle elixir -- Common regression mistakes : The mandatory warning label -- Program evaluation : Will going to Harvard change your life? -- Conclusion : Five questions that statistics can help answer -- Appendix : Statistical software.
The field of statistics is rapidly transforming into a discipline that Hal Varian at Google has called sexy. And with good reason; from batting averages and political polls to game shows and medical research, the real-world application of statistics is growing by leaps and bounds. In this book the author demystifies the study of statistics by stripping away the arcane and technical details to get at the underlying intuition that is key to understanding the power of statistical concepts. Tackling a wide-ranging set of problems, he demonstrates how statistics can be used to look at questions that are important and relevant to us today.
Table of contents provided by Syndetics
- Introduction: Why I hated calculus but love statistics (p. ix)
- Acknowledgments (p. xvii)
- 1 What's the Point? (p. 1)
- 2 Descriptive Statistics: Who was the best baseball player of all time? (p. 15)
- Appendix to Chapter 2 (p. 34)
- 3 Deceptive Description: "He's got a great personality!" and other true but grossly misleading statements (p. 36)
- 4 Correlation: How does Netflix know what movies I like? (p. 58)
- Appendix to Chapter 4 (p. 65)
- 5 Basic Probability: Don't buy the extended warranty on your $99 printer (p. 68)
- 51/2 The Monty Hall Problem (p. 90)
- 6 Problems with Probability: How overconfident math geeks nearly destroyed the global financial system (p. 95)
- 7 The Importance of Data: "Garbage in, garbage out" (p. 110)
- 8 The Central Limit Theorem: The Lebron James of statistics (p. 127)
- 9 Inference: Why my statistics professor thought I might have cheated (p. 143)
- Appendix to Chapter 9 (p. 164)
- 10 Polling: How we know that 64 percent of Americans support the death penalty (with a sampling error ± 3 percent) (p. 169)
- Appendix to Chapter 10 (p. 183)
- 11 Regression Analysis: The miracle elixir (p. 185)
- Appendix to Chapter 11 (p. 208)
- 12 Common Regression Mistakes: The mandatory warning label (p. 212)
- 13 Program Evaluation: Will going to Harvard change your life? (p. 225)
- Conclusion: Five questions that statistics can help answer (p. 241)
- Appendix: Statistical software (p. 257)
- Notes (p. 261)
- Index (p. 269)