Reading Between the Numbers: Statistical Thinking in Everyday Life - Softcover

Tal, Joseph

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0071364005 ISBN 13: 9780071364003

Publisher: McGraw-Hill, 2000

Synopsis

This quirky, fast-paced excursion through the world of statistics brings basic statistical concepts down to earth for general readers by showing how statistics are applied in our everyday lives. Drawing on such diverse examples as how pills are manufactured, elections are forecast, and chess tournaments are structured, psychologist Joseph Tal familiarizes readers with variables, means, medians, scales of measurement, sampling, estimating, and other stock-in-trade tools of the statistician. An unusually lively, informal review of statistical concepts Reading Between the Numbers:
• Features dozens of fascinating, often whimsical examples drawn from real life and literature, and 100 vivid graphs and tables
• Makes statistics fun and easy for general readers interested in numbers
• Is the ideal quick-study guide for those who need to learn statistical methods for their jobs
• Focuses on the psychology behind statistics, rather than problem-solving • Is based on the author’s popular professional workshops and seminars

About this title

About the Author

Joseph Tal, Ph.D. is Managing Director of TechnoStat Ltd., a company based in Israel that provides statistical services for clinical trials, marketing research and industrial engineering. He also conducts a popular series of statistics workshops for non-statisticians in Israel and England. Dr. Tal has worked as a statistician and clinical psychologist and has taught both at Northwestern University.

From the Back Cover

A lively and informal introduction to statistics in everyday life

From physics to football, marketing to meteorology, virtually every aspect of modern life involves numbers. But, as statistician/psychologist Joseph Tal writes in this offbeat excursion through the world of statistics, "The numbers must be made to talk, to tell us their story." And that, of course, is where statistics comes in: it is the art and science of getting numbers to reveal present realities and future possibilities.

In Reading Between the Numbers, Joseph Tal brings statistics down to earth for the general reader. Focusing on the psychology behind statistics, he shows how it applies in our everyday lives. He demonstrates how even mundane decisions, such as what to make for dinner or whether to take an umbrella, involve basic statistical reasoning. Tal uses dozens of fascinating examples from the social and natural sciences, sports, business and a whole host of other disciplines. With them he familiarizes you with means, medians and modes, and with sampling, estimating, hypothesis testing and many tools-of-the-trade. And throughout he enlivens the narrative with whimsical and revealing quotes from literary masters ranging from Stendahl to Wilde to Chandler.

Reading Between the Numbers is a fun, fascinating read for anyone interested in numbers. It is an ideal quick-study guide for anyone needing to know statistics for their job or school or life.

Edition details

• Publisher: McGraw-Hill
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0071364005
• ISBN 13: 9780071364003
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 285