Statistics For Dummies

I work in research and evaluation and last year I transitioned into a much more stats heavy project. While I had taken quite a few stats classes in grad school, it had been a few years since I’d used those skills and I needed to really dive back into my old textbooks and notes. But I also purchased these books (I and II) as a memory refresher.What I really appreciate about the books are the simple language and examples to describe the basic theories around statistical tests and assumptions. This gives me the frame of reference I need without diving into all of the mathematical reasoning and overly technical explanations in my textbooks. Also, it covers a very wide range of tests - more tests than I learned in my stats classes - and gives me the foundation to go and learn more about these tests and how to use them in my stats software. So even though I’m not using these books to help me through current course work, I still find them incredibly useful. Also, I kinda sheepishly showed them to a colleague who has been doing this work much longer than I have - they immediately went out and purchased them too.

I wanted to find a book that would provide a good introduction to statistics for liberal-arts types. This is the book for the intended audience. Keep in mind, that most liberal-arts types don't know what a normal distribution looks like, or the difference between the mean and median. After reading this book, they will definitely know the difference.This is not a book for technical folks preparing a pharmaceutical efficacy study that will be submitted to the FDA.However, this is definitely the book for LSE/KSG (London School of Economics / Kennedy School of government) types. One critique is that the book doesn't use R/R-Studio for all of the examples. That would actually be a good idea these days.One somewhat important point is to get the actual physical book, not the Kindle edition. I have Kindle and use Kindle a lot. However, you will lose the images if you use Kindle to read this book. The images are important to learning statistics.However, the bottom line is that this book is not a joke, and you will definitely learn the foundations of statistics by reading this book. If you don't know statistics, this is a rather good place to start.

First, this book should receive a 4.5 rating, but that is not an option. I don't think a stats book could get a higher rating. A 5 woule mean the book is perfect, which is highly improbable for any math/stats book. That said, this book is the most nearly perfect stats book I've come across.So...Great intro book! I took a graduate level stats class, in which over half (I'd say 75% ) of the students were lost. I always believed that a good teacher could teach the most complex subjects in plain English. This is what Deborah Rumsey essentially does. Finally! Many of the concepts are so clear it's mind boggling--and her wit and humor will have you rolling off your chair (or sometimes, rolling your eyes--but that, too, is funny. Here's a caveat regarding my review. I did have that graduate level stats class, most of which was incomprehensible; however, that did give me some background information in understanding some of the concepts. So, I'm not sure how someone would do coming into stats without know any background knowledge. That said, as others have pointed out, you can use AI (ChaptGPT) to help clarify things--and then when you go back to the book, it makes sense. This book is definitely worth it--and to really understand it, go back and take Cornell Notes on the text--that will sharpen your understanding.

I have been struggling in my statistics class hand it is the last class that I have to pass before graduation. Yes, I am a statistics dummy, so I ordered this book! It has been a valuable resource in helping to make some of the concepts make sense to me! I would recommend to anyone struggling with Statistics!

I bought this book to support my lectures in a course on modeling and simulation. Although it wasn't written for engineers or mathematicians, it works well for an introductory course as long as it provides examples and explanations that work very well for understanding not so direct or convoluted concepts like confidence intervals, hypothesis test or the relationship between z distribution and student's t. Deborah Rumsey, the author, explains every topic with deep insight and in a good mood --which is the distinctive Dummies' seal. She's not only clear to explain: she wants to be understood, and that is something that any reader should thank.Recommended to whoever is interested in teaching, in remembering or in exploring what statistics are for and why they're so important.