Statistics : The Art and Science of Learning from Data

KEY MESSAGE: 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 Editionhelps readers 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 readers 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 readers to be comfortable with analyzing both quantitative and categorical data. Every day in the media, percentages and rates are 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 statistics texts. The text maintains its commitment to the recommendations of the ASA endorsed GAISE (Guidelines for Assessment for Instruction in Statistical Education) Report. KEY TOPICS: Statistics: The Art and Science of Learning from Data; Exploring Data with Graphs and Numerical Summaries; Association: Contingency, Correlation, and Regression; Gathering Data; Probability in our Daily Lives; Probability Distributions; Sampling Distributions; Statistical Inference: Confidence Intervals; Statistical Inference: Significance Tests about Hypothesis; Comparing Two Groups; Analyzing the Associations Between Categorical Variables; Analyzing Association Between Quantitative Variables: Regression Analysis; Multiple Regression; Comparing Groups: Analysis of Variance Methods; Nonparametric Statistics MARKET: For all readers interested in statistics.

Alan Agresti is Distinguished Professor in the Department of Statistics at the University of Florida. He has been teaching statistics there for 35 years, including the development of three courses in statistical methods for social science students and three courses in categorical data analysis. He is author of over 100 refereed articles and five texts including "Statistical Methods for the Social Sciences" (with Barbara Finlay, Prentice Hall, 4th edition 2009) and "Categorical Data Analysis" (Wiley, 2nd edition 2002). He is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association and recipient of an Honorary Doctor of Science from De Montfort University in the UK. In 2003 Alan was named "Statistician of the Year" by the Chicago chapter of the American Statistical Association and in 2004 he was the first honoree of the Herman Callaert Leadership Award in Biostatistical Education and Dissemination awarded by the University of Limburgs, Belgium. He has held visiting positions at Harvard University, Boston University, London School of Economics, and Imperial College and has taught courses or short courses for universities and companies in about 30 countries worldwide. Alan has also received teaching awards from UF and an excellence in writing award from John Wiley & Sons.

 

Christine Franklin is a Senior Lecturer and Honors Professor in the Department of Statistics at the University of Georgia. She has been a member of college faculty in statistics for almost 30 years. Chris has been actively involved at the national level with promoting statistical education at the K-12 level and college undergraduate level since the 1980's. She is currently the Chief Reader for AP Statistics and has developed three masters level courses at UGA in data analysis for elementary, middle school, and secondary teachers. Chris was the lead writer for the ASA endorsed Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE) Report: A Pre-K-12 Curriculum Framework.

 

Chris has been honored by her selection as a Fellow of the American Statistical Association, the 2006 Mu Sigma Rho National Statistical Education Award recipient for her teaching and lifetime devotion to statistics education, and numerous teaching and advising awards at UGA. Chris has written more than 30 journal articles and resource materials for textbooks.