David Moore and William Notz’s Statistics: Concepts and Controversies (SCC) introduces liberal arts majors to statistical ideas—and shows them how use those ideas to think about the statistical claims they see every day from polls, campaigns, advertising, public policy, and many different fields of study. The ultimate goal is to equip students with solid statistical reasoning skills that will help them understand impact of statistics on all aspects of our lives.
The new edition offers SCC’s signature combination of engaging cases, real-life examples and exercises, helpful pedagogy, rich full-color design, and innovative media learning tools, all significantly updated.
David S. Moore is Shanti S. Gupta Distinguished Professor of Statistics, Emeritus, at Purdue University and was 1998 president of the American Statistical Association. He received his A.B. from Princeton and his Ph.D. from Cornell, both in mathematics. He has written many research papers in statistical theory and served on the editorial boards of several major journals. Professor Moore is an elected fellow of the American Statistical Association and of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics and an elected member of the International Statistical Institute. He has served as program director for statistics and probability at the National Science Foundation. In recent years, Professor Moore has devoted his attention to the teaching of statistics. He was the content developer for the Annenberg/Corporation for Public Broadcasting college-level telecourse Against All Odds: Inside Statistics and for the series of video modules Statistics: Decisions through Data, intended to aid the teaching of statistics in schools. He is the author of influential articles on statistics education and of several leading texts. Professor Moore has served as president of the International Association for Statistical Education and has received the Mathematical Association of America’s national award for distinguished college or university teaching of mathematics.
William I. Notz is Professor of Statistics at the Ohio State University. He received his B.S. in physics from the Johns Hopkins University and his Ph.D. in mathematics from Cornell University. His first academic job was as an assistant professor in the Department of Statistics at Purdue University. While there, he taught the introductory concepts course with Professor Moore and as a result of this experience he developed an interest in statistical education. Professor Notz is a co-author of EESEE (the Electronic Encyclopedia of Statistical Examples and Exercises) and co-author of Statistics: Concepts and Controversies.
Professor Notz’s research interests have focused on experimental design and computer experiments. He is the author of several research papers and of a book on the design and analysis of computer experiments. He is an elected fellow of the American Statistical Association. He has served as the editor of the journal Technometrics and as editor of the Journal of Statistics Education. He has served as the Director of the Statistical Consulting Service, as acting chair of the Department of Statistics for a year, and as an Associate Dean in the College of Mathematical and Physical Sciences at the Ohio State University. He is a winner of the Ohio State University’s Alumni Distinguished Teaching Award.
To the Teacher: Statistics as a Liberal Discipline
Applications Index
Prelude: Making Sense of Statistics
Statistics and You: What Lies ahead in This Book
About the Authors
PART I Producing Data
1 Where Do Data Come From?
Case Study
Talking about data: individuals and variables
Observational studies
Sample surveys
Census
Experiments
Statistics in Summary
Link It
Case Study Evaluated
LaunchPad Online Resources
Check the Basics
Exploring the Web
2 Samples, Good and Bad
Case Study How to sample badly Simple random samples Can you trust a sample? Statistics in Summary Link It Case Study Evaluated LaunchPad Online Resources Check the Basics Chapter 2 Exercises Exploring the Web
3 What Do Samples Tell Us?
Case Study From sample to population Sampling variability Margin of error and all that Confidence statements Sampling from large populations Statistical Controversies: Should Election Polls Be Banned? Statistics in Summary Link It Case Study Evaluated LaunchPad Online Resources Check the Basics Chapter 3 Exercises Exploring the Web
4 Sample Surveys in the Real World
Case Study How sample surveys go wrong Sampling errors Nonsampling errors Wording questions How to live with nonsampling errors Sample design in the real world The challenge of Internet surveys Statistical Controversies: The Harris Online Poll Probability samples Questions to ask before you believe a poll Statistics in Summary Link It Case Study Evaluated LaunchPad Online Resources Check the Basics Chapter 4 Exercises Exploring the Web
5 Experiments, Good and Bad
Case Study Talking about experiments How to experiment badly Randomized comparative experiments The logic of experimental design Statistical significance How to live with observational studies Statistics in Summary Link It Case Study Evaluated LaunchPad Online Resources Check the Basics Chapter 5 Exercises Exploring the Web
6 Experiments in the Real World
Case Study Equal treatment for all Double-blind experiments Refusals, nonadherers, and dropouts Can we generalize? Experimental design in the real world Matched pairs and block designs Statistical Controversies: Is It or Isn’t It a Placebo? Statistics in Summary Link It Case Study Evaluated LaunchPad Online Resources Check the Basics Chapter 6 Exercises Exploring the Web
7 Data Ethics
Case Study First principles Institutional review boards Informed consent Confidentiality Clinical trials Statistical Controversies: Hope for Sale? Behavioral and social science experiments Statistics in Summary Link It Case Study Evaluated LaunchPad Online Resources Check the Basics Chapter 7 Exercises Exploring the Web
8 Measuring
Case Study Measurement basics Know your variables Measurements, valid and invalid Measurements, accurate and inaccurate Statistical
Controversies: SAT Exams in College Admissions Improving reliability, reducing bias Pity the poor psychologist Statistics in Summary Link It Case Study Evaluated LaunchPad Online Resources Check the Basics Chapter 8 Exercises Exploring the Web
9 Do the Numbers Make Sense?
Case Study What didn’t they tell us? Are the numbers consistent with each other? Are the numbers plausible? Are the numbers too good to be true? Is the arithmetic right? Is there a hidden agenda? Statistics in Summary Link It Case Study Evaluated LaunchPad Online Resources Check the Basics Chapter 9 Exercises Exploring the Web
Part I Review
Part I Summary Part I Review Exercises Part I Projects
PART II Organizing Data
10 Graphs, Good and Bad
Case Study Data tables Types of variables Pie charts and bar graphs Beware the pictogram Change over time: line graphs Watch those scales! Making good graphs Statistics in Summary Link It Case Study Evaluated LaunchPad Online Resources Check the Basics Chapter 10 Exercises Exploring the Web
11 Displaying Distributions with Graphs
Case Study Histograms Interpreting histograms Stemplots Statistics in Summary Link It Case Study Evaluated LaunchPad Online Resources Check the Basics Chapter 11 Exercises Exploring the Web
12 Describing Distributions with Numbers
Case Study Median and quartiles The five-number summary and boxplots Statistical Controversies: Income Inequality Mean and standard deviation
Choosing numerical descriptions Statistics in Summary Link It Case Study Evaluated LaunchPad Online Resources Check the Basics Chapter 12 Exercises Exploring the Web
13 Normal Distributions
Case Study Density curves The center and variability of a density curve Normal distributions The 68–95–99.7 rule Standard scores Percentiles of Normal distributions* Statistics in Summary Link It Case Study Evaluated LaunchPad Online Resources Check the Basics Chapter 13 Exercises Exploring the Web
14 Describing Relationships: Scatterplots and Correlation
Case Study Scatterplots Interpreting scatterplots Correlation Understanding correlation Statistics in Summary Link It Case Study Evaluated LaunchPad Online Resources Check the Basics Chapter 14 Exercises Exploring the Web
15 Describing Relationships: Regression, Prediction, and Causation
Case Study Regression lines Regression equations Understanding prediction
Correlation and regression The question of causation Statistical Controversies: Gun Control and Crime Evidence for causation Correlation, prediction, and big data Statistics in Summary Link It Case Study Evaluated LaunchPad Online Resources Check the Basics Chapter 15 Exercises Exploring the Web
16 The Consumer Price Index and Government Statistics
Case Study Index numbers Fixed market basket price indexes
Using the CPI Understanding the CPI Statistical Controversies: Does the CPI Overstate Inflation? The place of government statistics The question of social statistics Statistics in Summary Link It Case Study Evaluated LaunchPad Online Resources Check the Basics Chapter 16 Exercises Exploring the Web
Part II Review
Part II Summary Part II Review Exercises Part II Projects
PART III Chance
17 Thinking about Chance
Case Study The idea of probability The ancient history of chance Myths about chance behavior Personal probabilities Probability and risk Statistics in Summary Link It Case Study Evaluated LaunchPad Online Resources Check the Basics Chapter 17 Exercises Exploring the Web
18 Probability Models
Case Study Probability models Probability rules Probability and odds
Probability models for sampling Statistics in Summary Link It Case Study
Evaluated LaunchPad Online Resources Check the Basics Chapter 18 Exercises Exploring the Web
19 Simulation
Case Study Where do probabilities come from? Simulation basics Thinking about independence More elaborate simulations Statistics in Summary Link It Case Study Evaluated LaunchPad Online Resources Check the Basics Chapter 19 Exercises Exploring the Web
20 The House Edge: Expected Values
Case Study Expected values The law of large numbers
Thinking about expected values Statistical Controversies: The State of
Legalized Gambling Finding expected values by simulation
Statistics in Summary Link It Case Study Evaluated LaunchPad Online Resources Check the Basics Chapter 20 Exercises Exploring the Web
Part III Review
Part III Summary Part III Review Exercises Part III Projects
PART IV Inference
21 What Is a Confidence Interval?
Case Study Estimating Estimating with confidence Understanding confidence intervals More on confidence intervals for a population proportion∗ The sampling distribution of a sample mean∗ Confidence intervals for a population mean* Statistics in Summary Link It Case Study Evaluated LaunchPad Online Resources Check the Basics Chapter 21 Exercises Exploring the Web
22 What Is a Test of Significance?
Case Study The reasoning of statistical tests of significance Hypotheses and P-values Statistical significance Calculating P-values∗ Tests for a population mean∗ Statistics in Summary Link It Case Study Evaluated LaunchPad Online Resources Check the Basics Chapter 22 Exercises Exploring the Web
23 Use and Abuse of Statistical Inference
Case Study Using inference wisely The woes of significance tests The advantages of confidence intervals Significance at the 5% level isn’t magical Statistical Controversies: Should Hypothesis Tests Be Banned? Beware of searching for significance Inference as decision* Statistics in Summary Link It Case Study Evaluated LaunchPad Online Resources Check the Basics Chapter 23 Exercises Exploring the Web
24 Two-Way Tables and the Chi-Square Test∗
Case Study Two-way tables Inference for a two-way table The chi-square test Using the chi-square test Simpson’s paradox Statistics in Summary Link It Case Study Evaluated LaunchPad Online Resources Check the Basics Chapter 24 Exercises Exploring the Web
Part IV Review
Part IV Summary Part IV Review Exercises Part IV Projects
Notes and Data Sources
Resolving the Controversy
Solutions to Now It’s Your Turn Exercises
Answers to Odd-Numbered Exercises
Index
Table A Random digits
Table B Percentiles of the Normal distributions
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