Statistics For People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics

This Second Edition of the bestselling text teaches an often intimidating and difficult subject in a way that is informative, personable, and clear. Researchers and students who find themselves uncomfortable with the analysis portion of their work will appreciate this book′s unhurried pace and thorough, friendly presentation.

Salkind takes students through various statistical procedures, beginning with correlations and graphical representation of data and ending with inferential techniques and analysis of variance. In addition, there is coverage of SPSS (and data sets for hands-on experience), and a review of more advanced statistical techniques, such as reliability, validity, introductory non-parametric statistics, and more. Pedagogical features include sidebars offering additional technical information about the topic and set-off points that reinforce major themes. Finally, questions to chapter exercises and a complete glossary are located at the back of the book.

Throughout the book, Salkind offers readers:

• Difficulty Rating Index for each chapter′s material for each chapter′s material
• Tips for doing and thinking about a statistical technique for doing and thinking about a statistical technique
• Top Ten for everything from the best ways to create a graph to the mosteffective techniques for data collection
• Tech Talk boxes for readers who want additional details and commentary on statistical procedures 
• Things to Remember offer readers reviews and reminders of how material presented earlier relates to a technique being presented
• Steps that break statistical techniques down into a clear sequence of procedures
• SPSS Tips for executing each major statistical technique
• Time to Practice exercises at the end of each chapter, followed by complete solutions to each problem
• Appendices contain an introduction to SPSS as well as data sets (also available online) used in the completion of chapter exercises and end-of-chapter problems

Praise for the First Edition "I liked its humorous approach, which indeed helps to reduce statistical anxiety. The design of the book is inviting and relaxing, which is a plus. The writing style is great and the presentation is appropriate for my students. A fun and well-written book, it is easy to read and use, and presents statistics in a user-friendly way. . . . I would recommend it for sure."
--Minjuan Wang, San Diego State University

"Salkind′s book is in a class by itself. It is easily the best book of its kind that I have come across. I enthusiastically recommend it for any one interested in the subject, and even (and especially) for those who aren′t!" 
--Russ Shafer-Landau, University of Wisconsin

"Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics really makes students learn and enjoy statistics and research in general. Students especially like the Ten Commandments and Internet sites." 
--Valerie Janesick, Roosevelt University

"Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics is definitely the right book for people who have to overcome that familiar anxious feeling when opening a standard statistics book and who having finally managed to do so are still not able to make much sense of it all. The book by Salkind is easy and pleasant to read and one that hardly needs any pre-knowledge of the field to be able to follow the author′s train of thoughts. Salkind has managed to bring statistics home to people who hate statistics, or thought they did."
--STATISTICAL METHODS IN MEDICAL RESEARCH

New to the Second Edition:

• Downloadable practice data sets at http://www.soe.ku.edu/faculty/Salkind/stats_fpwhs/
• New chapter on factorial analysis of variance
• New chapter on reliability and validity
• New section on effect size
• An entirely revised test bank instructor′s manual

Neil J. Salkind received his PhD in human development from the University of Maryland, and after teaching for 35 years at the University of Kansas, he was Professor Emeritus in the Department of Psychology and Research in Education, where he collaborated with colleagues and work with students. His early interests were in the area of children’s cognitive development, and after research in the areas of cognitive style and (what was then known as) hyperactivity, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of North Carolina’s Bush Center for Child and Family Policy. His work then changed direction to focus on child and family policy, specifically the impact of alternative forms of public support on various child and family outcomes. He delivered more than 150 professional papers and presentations; written more than 100 trade and textbooks; and is the author of Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics (SAGE), Theories of Human Development (SAGE), and Exploring Research (Prentice Hall). He has edited several encyclopedias, including the Encyclopedia of Human Development, the Encyclopedia of Measurement and Statistics, and the Encyclopedia of Research Design. He was editor of Child Development Abstracts and Bibliography for 13 years. He lived in Lawrence, Kansas, where he liked to read, swim with the River City Sharks, work as the proprietor and sole employee of big boy press, bake brownies (see www.statisticsforpeople.com for the recipe), and poke around old Volvos and old houses.