Statistics in Action: A Canadian Outlook - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1482236230 ISBN 13: 9781482236231

Publisher: Chapman and Hall/CRC, 2014

Synopsis

Commissioned by the Statistical Society of Canada (SSC), Statistics in Action: A Canadian Outlook helps both general readers and users of statistics better appreciate the scope and importance of statistics. It presents the ways in which statistics is used while highlighting key contributions that Canadian statisticians are making to science, technology, business, government, and other areas. The book emphasizes the role and impact of computing in statistical modeling and analysis, including the issues involved with the huge amounts of data being generated by automated processes.

The first two chapters review the development of statistics as a discipline in Canada and describe some major contributions to survey methodology made by Statistics Canada, one of the world’s premier official statistics agencies. The book next discusses how statistical methodologies, such as functional data analysis and the Metropolis algorithm, are applied in a wide variety of fields, including risk management and genetics. It then focuses on the application of statistical methods in medicine and public health as well as finance and e-commerce. The remainder of the book addresses how statistics is used to study critical scientific areas, including difficult-to-access populations, endangered species, climate change, and agricultural forecasts.

About the SSC
Founded in Montréal in 1972, the SSC is the main professional organization for statisticians and related professionals in Canada. Its mission is to promote the use and development of statistics and probability. The SSC publishes the bilingual quarterly newsletter SSC Liaison and the peer-reviewed scientific journal The Canadian Journal of Statistics. More information can be found at www.ssc.ca.

About this title

About the Author

Jerald F. Lawless

Review

"Statistics in Action is a volume of interesting and highly accessible articles published by the Statistical Society of Canada to celebrate 2013, the International Year of Statistics. ... This book provides a glimpse into the past, present, and future uses of data; how data impact the lives of Canadians and others; and the role that Canadian statisticians have had and will continue to have in data analysis."
--The American Statistician, August 2015

"A handful of nominations came in for this book, commissioned by the Statistical Society of Canada to mark the 2013 International Year of Statistics. Among the recommendations was this from Nema Dean: 'Written for a sophisticated general audience (students included), most chapters provide a peek into an area of statistics--including the methodology--motivated by a practical problem, such as estimating the population of an endangered species of shark or quantifying the human and natural contributions to observed climate change. Worth reading.'"
--Significance Recommended Reading, December 2014

"The writing is excellent throughout. In summary, Canadians have made many important contributions to science through their use of statistical methods. This excellent book tells you what those contributions are and explains them in detail. It is an excellent presentation of knowledge gained with the help of statistics by Canadian researchers."
--International Statistical Review, 82, 2014

"... it will give you a glimpse of the excitement, but also of the importance, of statistics at the beginning of the twenty-first century. ... this book is intended to help increase public awareness on the importance of statistics in all aspects of human life and society."
--From the Foreword by Christian Léger, PhD, PStat, 2012-2013 President of the Statistical Society of Canada

Edition details

• Publisher: Chapman and Hall/CRC
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1482236230
• ISBN 13: 9781482236231
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 384
• Editor: Lawless Jerald F.