Discovering Statistics Using R - Hardcover

Field, Andy; Miles, Jeremy; Field, Zoe

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1446200450 ISBN 13: 9781446200452

Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd, 2012

Synopsis

The R version of Andy Field′s hugely popular Discovering Statistics Using SPSS takes students on a journey of statistical discovery using the freeware R. Like its sister textbook, Discovering Statistics Using R is written in an irreverent style and follows the same ground-breaking structure and pedagogical approach. The core material is enhanced by a cast of characters to help the reader on their way, hundreds of examples, self-assessment tests to consolidate knowledge, and additional website material for those wanting to learn more.

About this title

About the Author:

Andy Field is Professor of Child Psychopathology at the University of Sussex. He has published over 80 research papers, 29 book chapters, and 17 books mostly on child emotional development and statistics. 

He is the founding editor of the Journal of Experimental Psychopathology and has been an associate editor and editorial board member for the British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology, Cognition and Emotion, Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review and Research Synthesis Methods. 

His ability to make statistics accessible and fun has been recognized with local and national teaching awards (University of Sussex, 2001, 2015, 2016; the British Psychological Society, 2007), a prestigious UK National Teaching Fellowship (2010), and the British Psychological Society book award (2006). He adores cats (and dogs), and loves to listen to and play very heavy music. He lives in Brighton with his wonderful wife Zoë and their children.

Review:

In statistics, R is the way of the future. The big boys and girls have known this for some time: There are now millions of R users in academia and industry. R is free (as in no cost) and free (as in speech). Andy, Jeremy, and Zoe′s book now makes R accessible to the little boys and girls like me and my students. Soon all classes in statistics will be taught in R.

I have been teaching R to psychologists for several years and so I have been waiting for this book for some time. The book is excellent, and it is now the course text for all my statistics classes. I′m pretty sure the book provides all you need to go from statistical novice to working researcher.

Take, for example, the chapter on t-tests. The chapter explains how to compare the means of two groups from scratch. It explains the logic behind the tests, it explains how to do the tests in R with a complete worked example, which papers to read in the unlikely event you do need to go further, and it explains what you need to write in your practical report or paper. But it also goes further, and explains how t-tests and regression are related---and are really the same thing---as part of the general linear model. So this book offers not just the step-by-step guidance needed to complete a particular test, but it also offers the chance to reach the zen state of total statistical understanding.

Prof. Neil Stewart
Warwick University

Field′s Discovering Statistics is popular with students for making a sometimes deemed inaccessible topic accessible, in a fun way. In Discovering Statistics Using R, the authors have managed to do this using a statistics package that is known to be powerful, but sometimes deemed just as inaccessible to the uninitiated, all the while staying true to Field′s off-kilter approach.

Dr Marcel van Egmond
University of Amsterdam

Probably the wittiest and most amusing of the lot (no, really), this book takes yet another approach: it is 958 pages of R-based stats wisdom (plus online accoutrements)... A thoroughly engaging, expansive, thoughtful and complete guide to modern statistics. Self-deprecating stories lighten the tone, and the undergrad-orientated ′stupid faces′ (Brian Haemorrhage, Jane Superbrain, Oliver Twisted, etc.) soon stop feeling like a gimmick, and help to break up the text with useful snippets of stats wisdom. It is very mch a student textbook but it is brilliant... Field et al. is the complete package.
David M. Shuker
AnimJournal of Animal Behaviour

"This work should be in the library of every institution where statistics is taught. It contains much more content than what is required for a beginning or advanced undergraduate course, but instructors for such courses would do well to consider this book; it is priced comparably to books which contain only basic material, and students who are fascinated by the subject may find the additional material a real bonus. The book would also be very good for self-study. Overall, an excellent resource." Author: R. Bharath Source: Choice Published On: 2012-12-01

The main strength of this book is that it presents a lot of information in an accessible, engaging and irreverent way. The style is informal with interesting excursions into the history of statistics and psychology. There is reference to research papers which illustrate the methods explained, and are also very entertaining. The authors manage to pull off the Herculean task of teaching statistics through the medium of R... All in all, an invaluable resource. Author: Paul Webb Published On: 2013-12-12

About this edition

• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1446200450
• ISBN 13: 9781446200452
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 992