Statistics: The Art and Science of Learning from Data

Alan Agresti and Chris Franklin have merged their research and classroom experience to develop this successful introductory statistics text. Statistics: The Art and Science of Learning from Data, Second Edition helps students become statistically literate by encouraging them to ask and answer interesting statistical questions. It takes the ideas that have turned statistics into a central science in modern life and makes them accessible and engaging to students without compromising necessary rigor.

 

The varied and data-rich examples and exercises place heavy emphasis on thinking about and understanding statistical concepts. The applications are topical and current, and successfully illustrate the relevance of statistics. The authors believe that it is important for students to be comfortable with analyzing both quantitative and categorical data. Every day in the media, students see and hear percentages and rates being used to summarize opinion polls, outcomes of medical studies, and economic reports. As a result, greater attention is paid to the analysis of proportions than is typical of many introductory statistic texts.

The text maintains its commitment to the recommendations of the ASA endorsed GAISE (Guidelines for Assessment for Instruction in Statistical Education) Report.

Datasets and other resources (where applicable) for this book are available here.

 

REVIEWER and CLASS TEST COMMENTS: "This was one of the most enjoyable texts that I have come across. I learned a lot from this book and it has made statistics a lot more fun to teach." - Nazanin Azarnia [CLASS TESTER], Sante Fe Community College, FL "Good descriptions of concepts, does help them with procedures, strives to help students learn to solve problems...a book my students seemed to find readable." - Ginger Rowell [CLASS TESTER], Middle Tennessee University "Overall, my experience with this text was very positive. The inference chapters were especially strong....Many topics were presented in a novel way compared to other texts. Examples and homework problems were the most relevant and interesting that I have ever seen." - John Seppala [CLASS TESTER], Valdosta State University, GA " The examples are one of the strong points of this text... " -- Martin Lindquist, Columbia University " The examples used in this text are excellent. ... A student... is likely to believe that statistics is actually useful, and know how to use it, and also how not to use it." -- Alla Sikorskii, Michigan State University " I think the writing style in these chapters is better than my current text... " -- Robert Price, East Tennessee State University " Keep students' needs in mind and reduce confusion; This is an important distinguishing characteristic... " -- Rob Paige, Texas Tech " Agresti/Franklin' s use of current and interesting topics is very impressive... " -- Dawn White, CSU Bakersfield " The examples in the text are outstanding. Coincidences, therapeutic touch, astrology, basketball, election results, medical trials, etc. - lots of interesting and relevant examples. I really enjoyed reading the text and I' m sure that my students would also." - Martin Jones, College of Charleston " The quality of the Agresti/Franklin examples would strongly influence my decision to adopt this book! I found these examples to be clearly explained, timely, and from a broad range of topics... " - Leslie Hayes, St. Joseph' s University " Statistics is just as much a problem-solving technique as it is a mathematical science. Students need to see the importance of statistics in everyday life and scientific research. They need to learn how to become educated citizens as well as possible future researchers... From what I have seen... the text seems to do an excellent job promoting this. The chapters are filled with interesting examples... Furthermore, there are more than enough exercises." - Stephanie Pickle, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University STUDENT QUOTES (CLASS TESTERS) " I thought examples were interesting and they helped my understanding." Glen Pauch, University of Manitoba " ... the interesting examples... peaked my interest in the material." " enjoyed the examples... modern situations with very up-to-date information. I also found that they illustrated the concepts well." Benjamin Meek, University of Manitoba "It definitely showed me how important statistics is in real world applications. It encouraged me to thinkabout how in my career, statistics would be helpful." Jenna Howells, University of Manitoba " ... real life examples were used to make the information relative and useful which made me think more about what I was learning." Brenda Klassen, University of Manitoba " ... everyday examples that were relevant in our lives so it made me think about how statistics is used all the time." Valene Bertrand, University of Manitoba " ... [the examples] are really good at illustrating concepts." Sarah Voss, College of Charleston " ..I enjoyed the true to life examples... seeing such examples allowed me to relate statistics to real life... " Shannon Sheehan, College of Charleston " I found the examples to do a great job explaining and illustrating the topics discussed." Troy Wood, University of Georgia " The examples were excellent, interesting and easy to relate to.." Lindsey Kenoe, University of Georgia " ..examples dealt with current events and issues of interest to all the students using this book." Benjamin Cobb, UGA " ... what an awesome job of explaining concepts through examples and exercises!" Dinean Stevens, UGA " I really don' t want this to sound corny or exaggerated... but this is really the first math class I' ve enjoyed and I think it' s not just because of the nature of statistics but because of the examples and scenarios used." David Mahon, UGA " ... these examples are actually about real life: teen drinking, politics, internet use... otherbooks have examples that are completely unrealistic... " Logan Troutman, Valdosta State University " I loved the exercise sets because they were clear & understandable... " Jaclyn Planas, Central Connecticut State University [Examples]... .very relevant, current. They made statistics come to life, instead of just being about numbers" Michael C. Larkins, Middle TN State U "I' ve often struggled in math and need very clear explanations. This book gave step-by-step examples that made it easy to understand." Amanda M. Jenkins, Middle TN State U "I would say that I highly recommend this book. Its easy to read, instead of giving several formulas, the book preps you on how to read the passage and understand what the passage asks you to do. ... not only did the book give the answer (which is what all books do), but the book described the answer so that you knew why that was the answer." Katie, Sante Fe CC