Statistics: A first course

Preface 1 Statistical Introduction 2 Summarizing Data 3 Possibilities and Probabilities 4 Some Rules of Probability 5 Chance Probability Functions 6 The Normal Distribution 7 Chance Sampling 8 The Analysis of Measurements 9 The Analysis of Count Data 10 The Analysis of Paired Data 11 Statistical Conclusions; Bibliography; Statistical Tables; Answers to Odd-Numbered Exercises; Index. PREFACE In the last few decades there have been great changes in the teaching of statistics. Not only has there been a pronounced shift in emphasis from descriptive methods to more and more inference, but there has also been a change in the level at which first courses in statistics are being taught. Whereas these courses used to be taught mostly to college Juniors and Seniors, they are nowadays taught also to Freshmen and Sophomores, and attempts have been made and are being made to introduce probability and statistics into advanced high school programs. The purpose of this book is to reach the student at this somewhat earlier level, as will be apparent from the organization of the material, the language of the book, its format, its notation, and above all the exercises and the illustrations. Nevertheless, controversial material (say, about the meaning of probability) has not been avoided, the reader is exposed to the strengths of statistical techniques as well as their weaknesses, and it is hoped that this honest approach will provide a challenge for further study in the field...

The objective of Statistics: A First Course, Sixth Edition, is to lay a foundation in statistics early in a student's academic career. With the Sixth Edition, Freund and Simon have enhanced the level of mathematical precision of previous editions without complicating the overall presentation of the text.