another well-written and popular text by David Moore | Introduction to the Practice of Statistics w/CD-ROM...

A great book with a very down to earth approach to statistical inference | Introduction to the Practice of Statistics w/CD-ROM | David S. Moore, George P. McCabe

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	• Introduction to the Practice of Statistics w/CD-ROM David S. Moore, George P. McCabe W. H. Freeman, 2005 - 896 pages average customer review:based on 14 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Strengths and Weaknesses, But Still Among the Best Options

I have taught an introductory statistics class for psychology majors at a big-10 school more often than I care to remember, using this edition of Moore and McCabe.
Although the book has a number of shortcomings (more on those later), it also has its advantages:
1) Given the age and popularity of this text, it can be easily and cheaply bought used.
2) This is book written at a level that is accessible to undergraduate students, even those whose mathematics background is lacking
3) The layout of the book is clear (unlike the next edition, the problems are not scattered all over the chapter). The review at the end of each section is helpful for students
4) Each section has a large variety of problems, both problems that can be solved by hand and problems that are best solved using software (data sets are usually included on the student CD-ROM)
5) The "extra" chapters on the CD-ROM are well-written. A honors or "advanced" course in introductory undergraduate statistics can easily be based on all the chapters in the (hardcopy) textbook and a chapter of one's own choice (e.g. Logistic Regression) from the CD.
6) The CD-ROM includes Power Point slides which can be used by students who prefer this format to my lectures (which are chalkboard-based)
7) A number of companion books, the most useful being the Excel and SPSS manuals are available.
8) A course website package for the compass system exists. This can provide weekly online multiple-choice quizzes, grade reporting features as well as an easy way to share files with students.
Some disadvantages of this textbook are:
1) Some data sets that should be on the student CD are mysteriously missing
2) The EESEE database with case studies' interface is very badly designed; some data sets are missing; students find it hard to import the existing data sets into statistical software.
3) Most formulae are simply stated without any proof. While this does alleviate the fears of some of the less-than-gifted students, it makes the course less enlightening for students who come into the course adequately prepared and motivated.
4) The books' focus on the standard deviation over the variance is sometimes a little extreme, especially in the section on the rules of Expectations and Variances.
5) The section on expectations and variances should be split into separate sections for continuous and discrete random variables; this might help some of the more confused students.
6) The chapter on 1-way ANOVA does not include the expectations of the mean squares or any information on the regression model for ANOVA. Furthermore, Bonferroni is the only method of correcting for type-I error that is discussed. Others could have at least been listed.
7) The chapter on 2-way ANOVA should be expanded. The authors do not mention that they are talking solely about fixed-effects 2-way ANOVA, do not provided the formulae for the mean squares (or their expectations) and do not explain 2-way ANOVA as a multiple regression model. This is somewhat mitigated by the fact that a regular class (i.e. not an honours class) will probably not be able to cover all 12 chapters prior to the 2-way ANOVA chapter (and thus this chapter is not used either).
I have investigated the possibility of using a different textbook, but have not found a replacement that has the strengths of this book without the weaknesses.
I would recommend this book for an elementary introduction to statistics for undergraduates in the social sciences with the caveat that the instructor will have to supplement certain sections for those students who are intelligent, well-prepared and motivated.

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another well-written and popular text by David Moore

David Moore is a Professor of Statistics at Purdue University. He is both a great teacjer and a scholar. In addition to one or two well-written advanced books he has written a number of high quality introductory statistics books and has led the movement toward AP statistics in the high schools and active learning methods for tesching statistics at the elementary, middle and high school levels as well as at the universities.

This book is a new edition of his highly successful introductory text. This is only slightly more advanced than the text "The Basic Practice of Statistics" also written by Moore. This edition can only be as good or better than the one U have read. The inclusion of a CD for use in the course can only be a significant edition to this applied text.

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A great book with a very down to earth approach to statistical inference

There are many statistics books out there, but this one really stands out. The style is extremely clear, the examples pertinent and the author constantly brings the reader to the basics, no non-sense, showing why and how particular items are important. Practitioners will find this book especially useful since it deals mainly with statistical inference (tests) and gives a great amount of real life examples.

The experienced statistician should stay away (if looking for an advanced textbook) since this book does not go into deep mathematical or theoretical details (the necessary minimum is provided).

A quick peek at the toc gives a reliable idea of its content.

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With its focus on data analysis, statistical reasoning, and the way statisticians actually work, Introduction to the Practice of Statistics (IPS) helped bring the power of critical thinking and practical applications to today's statistics classroom. Unlike more traditional ?plug and chug? /formula driven texts, IPS de-emphasizes probability and gives students a deeper understanding of statistics.

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