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Statistics books are generally all structured in the same way. They describe statistical theory and techniques, starting with the easy stuff and working towards the harder stuff. Whenever they have finished explaining a particular bit of theory or a technique, they then give an example of its application.However, this isn't how it works in real life. You have a real business problem -to understand or to express - and you have to work out which statistical technique fits the problem. Flipping through the chapters of a statistics book, trying to find an example which fits both the data you have and the question you want to ask about the data almost always ends up in failure.This seems analogous to the old "production-led" manufacturer-making what it knows how to make, rather than the "customer-led" manufacturer making what its customers actually want. Statistics Demystified is the antedote to this problem, a customer-led statistics book that identifies your specific problem first and then helps you solve it.
| Getting an answer to your problem | |
| The starting principle of this book was that there should be just three simple steps to get you to the answer to your problem | |
| What data have you got? | |
| Your task is to match what you have to one of the [12] sets of data (which I have called "data types") in the first Part of this book | |
| What do you want to know? | |
| For any set of data, there are several questions you can ask about it | |
| Following each of my data types are the questions we can answer about that particular data type | |
| You just have to pick the question you want to answer | |
| Look up the answer | |
| Each question refers you to a Solution | |
| These are found both in the book and in the Excel workbook | |
| You can either "read" the appropriate formulae off the Excel spreadsheet and copy them into yours or, simpler still, copy your data into the spreadsheet and get an instant answer | |
| It is important that you do check the Solution pages in the book as well as using the spreadsheets because they contain caveats about the use of the Solutions and their interpretation | |
| You have to be very careful when using statistics or you can reach erroneous conclusions | |
| If you just need an answer, then you should be finished at this point | |
| Understanding the theory behind the answer | |
| You may, of course, be one of those people who doesn't like things they don't understand | |
| Even worse (for you), you may be a student on a course where you are required to explain your answers | |
| What I have done, therefore, is to try to explain the general theory behind each solution | |
| These explanations assume some knowledge of, or at least past exposure to, the basics of statistics and do not go heavily into equations or proofs (which you can look up in any number of books if necessary) | |
| If nothing else, I hope that these theory sections will help students relate the solutions in this book to whatever other study materials they may be using | |
| Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved. |
ISBN: 9780273663355
ISBN-10: 0273663356
Audience:
General
Format:
Paperback
Language:
English
Number Of Pages: 256
Published: 23rd May 2012
Publisher: Pearson Education, Limited
Dimensions (cm): 23.400 x 15.600
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