The joy of statistics a treasury of elementary statistical tools and their applications : a treasury of elementary statistical tools and their applications

The Joy of Statistics consists of a series of 42 “short stories,” each illustrating how elementary statistical methods are applied to data to produce insight and solutions to the questions data are collected to answer. The text contains brief histories of the evolution of statistical methods and a number of brief biographies of the most famous statisticians of the 20th century. Also throughout are a few statistical jokes, puzzles, and traditional stories. The level of the Joy of Statistics is elementary and explores a variety of statistical applications using graphs and plots, along with detailed and intuitive descriptions and occasionally using a bit of 10th grade mathematics. Examples of a few of the topics are gambling games such as roulette, blackjack, and lotteries as well as more serious subjects such as comparison of black/white infant mortality rates, coronary heart disease risk, and ethnic differences in Hodgkin’s disease. The statistical description of these methods and topics are accompanied by easy to understand explanations labeled “how it works.” Cover The Joy of Statistics: A Treasury of Elementary Statistical Tools and their Applications Copyright Dedication Preface Acknowledgments Contents 1. Probabilities—rules and review Some specific cat and dog probabilities Conditional probabilities Independence Statistics pays off Roulette Summation notation (Σ) Types of variables 2. Distributions of data—four plots Barplot Histogram Stem-leaf plot Frequency polygon 3. Mean value—estimation and a few properties Examples of sample variability Law of averages Law of large numbers One last note 4. Boxplots—construction and interpretation 5. The lady who tasted tea—a bit of statistical history A bit more about R. A. Fisher A bit about R. A. Fisher’s colleague, statistician Karl Pearson 6. Outlier/extreme values—a difficult decision 7. The role of summary statistics—brief description The estimation of a summary line from paired observations 8 Correlation and association—interpretation A spurious correlation Association 9. Proportional reduction in error—a measure of association Proportional reduction in error—how it works 10. Quick tests—four examples Tukey’s quick test Correlation—a quick test version Sign test—another quick test Quick test—a two sample visual comparison 11. Confounding—African-American and white infant mortality 12. Odds—a sometimes measure of likelihood Odds ratio 13. Odds ratio—a measure of risk? The effects of race and sex on physicians’ recommendations for cardiac catherization 14. Odds ratio—two propertiesrarely mentioned Variance of the odds ratio 15. Percent increase—ratios? A letter to the editor 16. Diagnostic tests—assessing accuracy 17. Regression to the mean—father/son data 18. Life table—a summary of mortality experience 19. Coincidence—a statistical description The birthday problem 20. Draft lottery numbers (1970) 21. Lotto—how to get in and how to win 22. Fatal coronary disease—risk 23. Pictures 24. The Monty Hall problem Two possibilities to consider 25. Eye-witness evidence—Collins versus state of California 26. Probabilities and puzzles James Fenimore Cooper—Leatherstocking Tales 27. Jokes and quotes 28. A true life puzzle Headlines: right-handers outlive lefties by 9-year average 29. Rates—definition and estimation 30. Geometry of an approximate average rate 31. Simpson’s paradox—two examples and a bit more Ecological fallacy 32. Smoothing—median values 33. Two by two table—a missing observation 34. Survey data—randomized response 35. Viral incidence estimation—a shortcut 36. Two-way table—a graphical analysis A painless graphical analysis of a table Mean/median polish—an analysis of association within tables Median polish—another analysis of association in a table 37. Data—too good to be true? 38. A binary variable—twin pairs Twins 39. Mr. Rich and Mr. Poor—a give and take equilibrium 40. Log-normal distribution—leukemia and pesticide exposure 41. A contribution to statistics APPENDIX: Golden mean—application of a quadratic equation The chord theorem Pythagorean theorem—a proof Pi—a famous number Sum of an infinite series Subject Index The vast majority of statistics books delineate techniques used to analyze collected data. The Joy of Statistics is not one of these books. It consists of a series of 42'short stories', each illustrating how statistical methods applied to data produce insight and solutions to the questions the data were collected to answer. Real-life and sometimes artificial data are used to demonstrate the often painless method and magic of statistics. In addition, the text contains brief histories of the evolution of statistical methods and a number of brief biographies of the most famous statisticians of the 20th century. Sprinkled throughout are statistical jokes, puzzles and traditional stories. The levels of statistical texts span a spectrum, from elementary to introductory to application to theoretical to advanced mathematical. The Joy of Statistics explores a variety of statistical applications using graphs and plots, along with detailed and intuitive descriptions, and occasionally a bit of 10th grade mathematics. Examples of a few of the topics included among these'short stories'are pet ownership, gambling games such as roulette, blackjack and lotteries, as well as more serious subjects such as comparison of African-American and white infant mortality risk, infant birth weight and maternal age, estimation of coronary heart disease risk and racial differences in Hodgkin disease. The statistical descriptions of these topics are in many cases accompanied by easy to understand explanations labelled'How It Works.' The vast majority of statistics books delineate techniques used to analyze collected data. The Joy of Statistics is not one of these books. It consists of a series of 42 "short stories", each illustrating how statistical methods applied to data produce insight and solutions to the questions the data were collected to answer. Real-life and sometimes artificial data are used to demonstrate the often painless method and magic of statistics. In addition, the text contains brief histories of the evolution of statistical methods and a number of brief biographies of the most famous statisticians of the 20th century. Sprinkled throughout are statistical jokes, puzzles and traditional stories. The levels of statistical texts span a spectrum, from elementary to introductory to application to theoretical to advanced mathematical. This book explores a variety of statistical applications using graphs and plots, along with detailed and intuitive descriptions, and occasionally a bit of 10th grade mathematics. Examples of a few of the topics included among these "short stories" are pet ownership, gambling games such as roulette, blackjack and lotteries, as well as more serious subjects such as comparison of black/white infant mortality risk, infant birth weight and maternal age, estimation of coronary heart disease risk and racial differences in Hodgkin disease. The statistical descriptions of these topics are in many cases accompanied by easy to understand explanations labelled "How it Works." This book consists of 42 anecdotes illustrating how statistical methods applied to data produce insight and solutions to the questions that the data were collected to answer. Real-life and sometimes artificial data are used to demonstrate the painless method and magic of statistics. Statistical jokes, puzzles and folktales are scattered throughout.