Statistical Fundamentals: Using Microsoft Excel for Univariate and Bivariate Analysis

Rovai, Alfred P.

ISBN 10: 099110465X / ISBN 13: 9780991104659

Published by Watertree Press, 2014

About this Item

Seller Inventory # mon0002909294

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Statistical Fundamentals: Using Microsoft Excel for Univariate and Bivariate Analysis
• Publisher: Watertree Press
• Publication Date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 099110465X
• ISBN 13: 9780991104659
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

The purpose of this book is to provide users with knowledge and skills in univariate and bivariate statistics. Univariate refers to analyzing one variable while bivariate refers to analyzing two variables at a time. Bivariate statistics are especially useful in comparing two variables and discovering relationships. The book includes step-by-step examples of how to perform various descriptive and inferential statistical procedures using Microsoft Excel's® native operators and functions as well as automated procedures using Microsoft Analysis ToolPak® and AnalystSoft StatPlus®. Since the principles covered in this book cut across all social science academic disciplines, undergraduate and graduate students in all curricula can make use of this book. The examples are drawn from across the social sciences and are meant to emphasize the generality of statistical theory across disciplines. Using Excel's operators and functions, the learner knows exactly how the solutions are obtained and is in full control of the process, unlike some statistical software with sophisticated graphic user interfaces in which the user has little knowledge and flexibility regarding how the output is produced.

From the Author

Most people are aware of the high tuition costs that come with a college education. However, textbooks are also increasing in price. According to the Twenty Million Minds Foundation, the average amount that college students spend on textbooks has risen from about $900 to almost $1,300 per year in the past few years.

I got an idea regarding a deeply discounted textbook when discussing Clayton Christensen's work on disruptive innovation at the university where I worked. Disruptive innovation is a term coined by Mr. Christensen that describes a process by which a product or service takes root initially in simple applications at the bottom of a market and then relentlessly moves upmarket, eventually displacing established competitors. At the meetings we were discussing models to reduce tuition expenses. However, we thought the concept could also be applied to textbooks, since they, like tuition, have become so expensive.

I decided to move forward with this concept. I initially co-wrote a textbook for courses on research design and statistics using SPSS (which I taught in the past). The paperback version is 630 8x10 pages long with a $29.95 list price. It is a substantial book with an extraordinary low list price for a research textbook. E-book versions go for $9.99. This one book replaces two textbooks I used in my courses -- one lists for $118.60 (on SPSS) and the other $154 (on statistics). The book I co-wrote covers the content of these two books and more. Replacing the two textbooks with this textbook saves students over $200 for a single course! If this is not a disruptive use of technology, I don't know what is. I then got the idea to write a similar textbook using Microsoft Excel instead of IBM SPSS since Excel is relatively inexpensive and widely available. At first I was skeptical that I could perform hypothesis tests to the same level of accuracy using Excel, but I discovered I could and I was able to check my results using SPSS. The result is this book (paperback and Kindle versions) on statistics using Microsoft Excel. I hope you find it useful.

Alfred P. Rovai
Chesapeake, Virginia