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| Science Forum Index » Statistics - Education Forum » Could you recommend a book for a stats beginner?... |
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| Jafraldo... |
 Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2009 3:31 pm |
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Guest
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Hi all,
My friend Dave said that statistics was the most interesting math
subject he ever encountered, and made me interested to learn.
My only math background was calculus for my comp sci degree. Is that enough?
Finally, I write because I'm interested in your recommendation of a
good book to check out. I know not all math books are created equal.
Thanks,
Jafraldo |
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| Bruce Weaver... |
| Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2009 3:31 pm |
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On Oct 1, 5:31 pm, Jafraldo <jafraldo.ramie... at (no spam) gmail.com> wrote:
[quote:798c196ce1]Hi all,
My friend Dave said that statistics was the most interesting math
subject he ever encountered, and made me interested to learn.
My only math background was calculus for my comp sci degree. Is that enough?
Finally, I write because I'm interested in your recommendation of a
good book to check out. I know not all math books are created equal.
Thanks,
Jafraldo
[/quote:798c196ce1]
There are lots. Here are a couple that are fun, good, and not too
long:
- The Cartoon Guide to Statistics
- How to Lie with Statistics
There are some online books too. For example:
http://davidmlane.com/hyperstat/
http://onlinestatbook.com/
Or for something more advanced:
http://faculty.chass.ncsu.edu/garson/PA765/statnote.htm
--
Bruce Weaver
bweaver at (no spam) lakeheadu.ca
http://sites.google.com/a/lakeheadu.ca/bweaver/Home
"When all else fails, RTFM." |
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| Stan Brown... |
| Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2009 5:01 pm |
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Thu, 1 Oct 2009 16:31:35 -0500 from Jafraldo
<jafraldo.ramierez at (no spam) gmail.com>:
[quote:663fe852fd]
My friend Dave said that statistics was the most interesting math
subject he ever encountered,
[/quote:663fe852fd]
I agree. While all math has practical applications, the proportion
of practical applications in a stats course is higher than in
calculus and much higher than in algebra.
[quote:663fe852fd]My only math background was calculus for my comp sci degree. Is that enough?
[/quote:663fe852fd]
Yes, if you can handle calculus then you can handle statistics.
(Calculus isn't necessary for a first course in statistics, but
that's an indication of your mathematical ability.)
[quote:663fe852fd]Finally, I write because I'm interested in your recommendation of a
good book to check out. I know not all math books are created equal.
[/quote:663fe852fd]
I like INTRO STATS by De Veaux for an independent learner like
yourself. There are lots of examples, the style is engaging without
getting sloppy, and there's a strong emphasis on thinking about the
meanings of things, not just computing numbers.
STATISTICS by Freedman/Pisano/Purves is also good and quite readable.
They have somewhat longer explanations than most textbooks, but they
leave out a few topics that are usually part of a first course, like
chi-squared.
--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com
Shikata ga nai... |
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