Statistics for the Terrified (2nd Edition) - Softcover

Kranzler, Gerald; Moursund, Janet

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0139554106 ISBN 13: 9780139554100

Publisher: Pearson College Div, 1998

Synopsis

A supplement for courses in Statistics for the social sciences, this book offers reluctant, math phobic statistics students a unique blend of humor and common sense in their brief introduction to statistics for the social sciences. Their objective is two-fold: (1) to give students an understanding of the concepts and computations of basic statistics, and (2) to train students to overcome math anxiety and avoidance responses that interfere with learning.

About this title

From the Publisher

Kranzler and Moursund offer reluctant, math phobic statistics students a unique blend of humor and common sense in their brief introduction to statistics for the social sciences. Their objective is two-fold: (1) to give students an understanding of the concepts and computations of basic statistics, and (2) to train students to overcome math anxiety and avoidance responses that interfere with learning.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Statistics for the Terrified (3d ed.) is a user-friendly introduction to elementary statistics, intended primarily for the reluctant, math anxious/avoidant person. Written in a personal and informal style, the aim of this book is to help readers make the leap from apprehension to comprehension of elementary statistics. Statistics for the Terrified is intended as a supplemental text for courses in statistics and research methods; as a refresher for students who have already taken a statistics course; or as a primer for new students of elementary statistics. Millions of people have math anxiety—yet this is rarely taken into consideration in textbooks on statistics. This book presents state-of-the-art, empirically supported self-help strategies (based on the cognitive behavioral techniques of rational emotive therapy) that help people manage their math anxiety so they can relax and build confidence while learning statistics. Statistics for the Terrified makes statistics accessible to people first by helping them manage their emotions and then by presenting them with other essential material for learning statistics before jumping into statistics. After covering these prerequisites, the remainder of the book presents an introduction to elementary statistics in a personal and informal manner with a great deal of encouragement, step-by-step assistance, and numerous concrete examples, without lengthy theoretical discussions.

ORGANIZATION

This book is divided into four sections. Section I—Essentials for Statistics—consists of three chapters. The first chapter introduces the text and presents effective strategies for studying statistics; the second discusses effective self-help strategies for overcoming math anxiety; and the third reviews basic math concepts. Section II—Describing Univariate Data—contains chapters on frequency distributions, descriptive statistics, the normal curve, and percentiles and standard scores. Section III—Correlation and Regression—consists of chapters on correlation coefficients and linear regression. Section IV—Inferential Statistics—contains four chapters on understanding inferential statistics, the t Test, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and chi square. The final chapter summarizes the text and congratulates the reader on a job well done.

CHANGES FROM THE SECOND EDITION

The first change that readers of the first two editions will notice is the organization of the book. The third edition is organized into sections to clearly demarcate the different topic areas. The first section reflects the biggest change. Section I was created to directly address the needs of the audience for whom the book is primarily intended, prior to covering statistics. The first chapter consists of a revised introduction, along with the addition of effective strategies for studying statistics. Chapters 2 and 3, which address how to manage math anxiety and basic math review, were tucked away in the back of the second edition in the appendix. In addition to these changes, in Section II frequency distributions and graphing data are now covered before descriptive statistics. A new chapter on the normal curve was added. In Section III, the chapter on correlation coefficients now includes discussion of both the Pearson product-moment correlation and the Spearman correlation for ranked data. Although the order of the coverage of topics in statistics in the remaining chapters remained the same in this edition, almost every chapter was revised. Many of the advanced topics that were introduced in previous editions (e.g., multiple regression, partial regression, two-way ANOVA, and the Mann-Whitney U), but not discussed in detail due to space limitations, were eliminated to make room for more in-depth discussion of basic statistical concepts and techniques. New topics covered in this edition include levels of measurement, grouped frequency distributions, and strength of association, among others. Several new formulas were added, including Yates's correction for continuity for the one-way chi-square. A new "Formula Glossary" also was added to the appendix. Answers to problems were moved from the appendix to the end of each chapter to facilitate ease of checking answers. Finally, to lighten the content and make the book more entertaining to read, humorous cartoons on math and statistics topics were added throughout, as well as jokes or interesting quotes related to statistics.

About this edition

• Publisher: Pearson College Div
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0139554106
• ISBN 13: 9780139554100
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 198