Operational Subjective Statistical Methods: A Mathematical, Philosophical, and Historical Introduction

The mathematical implications of personal beliefs and values inscience and commerce

Amid a worldwide resurgence of interest in subjectivist statisticalmethod, this book offers a fresh look at the role of personaljudgments in statistical analysis. Frank Lad demonstrates howphilosophical attention to meaning provides a sensible assessmentof the prospects and procedures of empirical inferentiallearning.

Operational Subjective Statistical Methods offers a systematicinvestigation of Bruno de Finetti's theory of probability and logicof uncertainty, which recognizes probability as the measure ofpersonal uncertainty at the heart of its mathematical presentation.It identifies de Finetti's "fundamental theorem of coherentprovision" as the unifying structure of probabilistic logic, andhighlights the judgment of exchangeability rather than causalindependence as the key probabilistic component of statisticalinference.

Broad in scope, yet firmly grounded in mathematical detail, thistext/reference

Invites readers to address the subjective personalist meaning ofprobability as motivating the mathematical construction
* Contains numerous examples and problems, including computingproblems using Matlab, assuming no background in Matlab
* Explains how to use the material in three distinct sequentialcourses in math and statistics, as well as in courses at thegraduate level in applied fields
* Provides an introductory basis for understanding more complexstructures of statistical analysis

Complete with fifty illustrations, Operational SubjectiveStatistical Methods makes an intriguing discipline accessible toprofessionals, students, and the interested general reader. Itcontains a wealth of teaching and research material, and offersprofound insight into the relationship between philosophy, faith,and scientific method.

FRANK LAD, PhD, is Senior Lecturer in Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand. He has worked on applied statistical problems in demography, economics, and zoology.