Statistics: The Conceptual Approach (Springer Undergraduate Textbooks in Statistics) - Hardcover

Iversen, Gudmund R.; Gergen, Mary

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0387946101 ISBN 13: 9780387946108

Publisher: Springer, 1997

Synopsis

discussed in this book. It is clear that with an understanding of the main ideas of statistics, engaged citizens can grasp what the professional number crunchers have produced and evaluate the results. This book grew out of a course designed by Gudmund R. Iversen to meet the challenges created by this greater reliance on statistical It was one of a series of courses designed at Swarthmore information. College to fulfill the mission of a liberal arts college to educate its students for the challenges of the twenty-first century. The idea was that students should not become so involved with the intricacies of a single discipline that they lose sight of the big picture. These courses were intended to educate students to understand how the major ideas of a field relate to the world. In many respects statistics seemed an ideal subject for one such course. While statistics could be a mystifying, self­ aggrandized, and esoteric discipline, it could also be a key to under­ standing many other disciplines. The course, Stat 1: Statistical Think­ ing, was created to produce this understanding. The course proved to be very popular, and each year it grew in size. Over time the lecture notes for the course became more refined and extensive, and eventu­ ally the course material served as the basis for this book. Fonnulas As most statistics instructors are keenly aware, the teaching of statistics has changed dramatically.

About this title

Synopsis

This book gives an imaginative introduction to statistics and reorients the course toward an understanding of statistical thinking and its meaning and utility for students in their daily life and careers. It is well-known that most students enrolled in statistcs courses are under duress, and for these students lengthy discussions of numerous methods, formulas, and complex theories are of little value and no meaning. In Statistics: The Conceptual Approach, Gudmund Iversen and Mary Gergen bring their years of experience and insight into teaching the subject. Among the many innovations and insights found in this new text are a sustained emphasis on the process of statistical analysis and what statistics can and cannot do as well as careful exposition of the ideas of developing statistical and graphical literacy. In the spirit of contemporary pedagogy and through the use of technology, this book eliminates the usual barriers caused by statistical formulas and lengthy computations encountered by students without strong quantitative skills. Formulas are grouped at the end of each chapter along with related problems.

Statistics: The Conceptual Approach requires only algebra as a prerequisite and is suitable for students in the liberal arts and the behavioral and social sciences.

Edition details

• Publisher: Springer
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0387946101
• ISBN 13: 9780387946108
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 753