How to Lie with Statistics

How to Lie with Statistics PDF

Author: Darrell Huff

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Published: 2010-12-07

Total Pages: 144

ISBN-13: 0393070875

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If you want to outsmart a crook, learn his tricks—Darrell Huff explains exactly how in the classic How to Lie with Statistics. From distorted graphs and biased samples to misleading averages, there are countless statistical dodges that lend cover to anyone with an ax to grind or a product to sell. With abundant examples and illustrations, Darrell Huff’s lively and engaging primer clarifies the basic principles of statistics and explains how they’re used to present information in honest and not-so-honest ways. Now even more indispensable in our data-driven world than it was when first published, How to Lie with Statistics is the book that generations of readers have relied on to keep from being fooled.

Damned Lies and Statistics

Damned Lies and Statistics PDF

Author: Joel Best

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2012-08-07

Total Pages: 218

ISBN-13: 0520953517

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Here, by popular demand, is the updated edition to Joel Best's classic guide to understanding how numbers can confuse us. In his new afterword, Best uses examples from recent policy debates to reflect on the challenges to improving statistical literacy. Since its publication ten years ago, Damned Lies and Statistics has emerged as the go-to handbook for spotting bad statistics and learning to think critically about these influential numbers.

Statistics in a Nutshell

Statistics in a Nutshell PDF

Author: Sarah Boslaugh

Publisher: "O'Reilly Media, Inc."

Published: 2012-11-15

Total Pages: 595

ISBN-13: 1449316824

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A clear and concise introduction and reference for anyone new to the subject of statistics.

More Damned Lies and Statistics

More Damned Lies and Statistics PDF

Author: Joel Best

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2004-09-06

Total Pages: 222

ISBN-13: 0520930029

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In this sequel to the acclaimed Damned Lies and Statistics, which the Boston Globe said "deserves a place next to the dictionary on every school, media, and home-office desk," Joel Best continues his straightforward, lively, and humorous account of how statistics are produced, used, and misused by everyone from researchers to journalists. Underlining the importance of critical thinking in all matters numerical, Best illustrates his points with examples of good and bad statistics about such contemporary concerns as school shootings, fatal hospital errors, bullying, teen suicides, deaths at the World Trade Center, college ratings, the risks of divorce, racial profiling, and fatalities caused by falling coconuts. More Damned Lies and Statistics encourages all of us to think in a more sophisticated and skeptical manner about how statistics are used to promote causes, create fear, and advance particular points of view. Best identifies different sorts of numbers that shape how we think about public issues: missing numbers are relevant but overlooked; confusing numbers bewilder when they should inform; scary numbers play to our fears about the present and the future; authoritative numbers demand respect they don’t deserve; magical numbers promise unrealistic, simple solutions to complex problems; and contentious numbers become the focus of data duels and stat wars. The author's use of pertinent, socially important examples documents the life-altering consequences of understanding or misunderstanding statistical information. He demystifies statistical measures by explaining in straightforward prose how decisions are made about what to count and what not to count, what assumptions get made, and which figures are brought to our attention. Best identifies different sorts of numbers that shape how we think about public issues. Entertaining, enlightening, and very timely, this book offers a basis for critical thinking about the numbers we encounter and a reminder that when it comes to the news, people count—in more ways than one.

Standard Deviations

Standard Deviations PDF

Author: Gary Smith

Publisher: Abrams

Published: 2014-07-31

Total Pages: 192

ISBN-13: 1468310682

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How statistical data is used, misused, and abused every day to fool us: “A very entertaining book about a very serious problem.” —Robert J. Shiller, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics and author of Irrational Exuberance Did you know that baseball players whose names begin with “D” are more likely to die young? That Asian Americans are most susceptible to heart attacks on the fourth day of the month? That drinking a full pot of coffee every morning adds years to your life, but one cup a day increases your pancreatic cancer risk? These “facts” have been argued with a straight face by credentialed researchers and backed up with reams of data and convincing statistics. As Nobel Prize–winning economist Ronald Coase cynically observed, “If you torture data long enough, it will confess.” Lying with statistics is a time-honored con. In Standard Deviations, economics professor Gary Smith walks us through the various tricks and traps that people use to back up their own crackpot theories. Sometimes, the unscrupulous deliberately try to mislead us. Other times, the well-intentioned are blissfully unaware of the mischief they are committing. Today, data is so plentiful that researchers spend precious little time distinguishing between good, meaningful indicators and total rubbish. Not only do others use data to fool us, we fool ourselves. Drawing on breakthrough research in behavioral economics and using clear examples, Standard Deviations demystifies the science behind statistics and makes it easy to spot the fraud all around us. “An entertaining primer . . . packed with figures, tables, graphs and ludicrous examples from people who know better (academics, scientists) and those who don’t (political candidates, advertisers).” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Common Errors in Statistics (and How to Avoid Them)

Common Errors in Statistics (and How to Avoid Them) PDF

Author: Phillip I. Good

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2011-09-20

Total Pages: 231

ISBN-13: 1118211278

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Praise for the Second Edition "All statistics students and teachers will find in this book a friendly and intelligentguide to . . . applied statistics in practice." —Journal of Applied Statistics ". . . a very engaging and valuable book for all who use statistics in any setting." —CHOICE ". . . a concise guide to the basics of statistics, replete with examples . . . a valuablereference for more advanced statisticians as well." —MAA Reviews Now in its Third Edition, the highly readable Common Errors in Statistics (and How to Avoid Them) continues to serve as a thorough and straightforward discussion of basic statistical methods, presentations, approaches, and modeling techniques. Further enriched with new examples and counterexamples from the latest research as well as added coverage of relevant topics, this new edition of the benchmark book addresses popular mistakes often made in data collection and provides an indispensable guide to accurate statistical analysis and reporting. The authors' emphasis on careful practice, combined with a focus on the development of solutions, reveals the true value of statistics when applied correctly in any area of research. The Third Edition has been considerably expanded and revised to include: A new chapter on data quality assessment A new chapter on correlated data An expanded chapter on data analysis covering categorical and ordinal data, continuous measurements, and time-to-event data, including sections on factorial and crossover designs Revamped exercises with a stronger emphasis on solutions An extended chapter on report preparation New sections on factor analysis as well as Poisson and negative binomial regression Providing valuable, up-to-date information in the same user-friendly format as its predecessor, Common Errors in Statistics (and How to Avoid Them), Third Edition is an excellent book for students and professionals in industry, government, medicine, and the social sciences.

Fundamentals of Mathematical Statistics

Fundamentals of Mathematical Statistics PDF

Author: S.C. Gupta

Publisher: Sultan Chand & Sons

Published: 2020-09-10

Total Pages: 22

ISBN-13: 9351611736

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Knowledge updating is a never-ending process and so should be the revision of an effective textbook. The book originally written fifty years ago has, during the intervening period, been revised and reprinted several times. The authors have, however, been thinking, for the last few years that the book needed not only a thorough revision but rather a substantial rewriting. They now take great pleasure in presenting to the readers the twelfth, thoroughly revised and enlarged, Golden Jubilee edition of the book. The subject-matter in the entire book has been re-written in the light of numerous criticisms and suggestions received from the users of the earlier editions in India and abroad. The basis of this revision has been the emergence of new literature on the subject, the constructive feedback from students and teaching fraternity, as well as those changes that have been made in the syllabi and/or the pattern of examination papers of numerous universities. Knowledge updating is a never-ending process and so should be the revision of an effective textbook. The book originally written fifty years ago has, during the intervening period, been revised and reprinted several times. The authors have, however, been thinking, for the last few years that the book needed not only a thorough revision but rather a substantial rewriting. They now take great pleasure in presenting to the readers the twelfth, thoroughly revised and enlarged, Golden Jubilee edition of the book. The subject-matter in the entire book has been re-written in the light of numerous criticisms and suggestions received from the users of the earlier editions in India and abroad. The basis of this revision has been the emergence of new literature on the subject, the constructive feedback from students and teaching fraternity, as well as those changes that have been made in the syllabi and/or the pattern of examination papers of numerous universities. Knowledge updating is a never-ending process and so should be the revision of an effective textbook. The book originally written fifty years ago has, during the intervening period, been revised and reprinted several times. The authors have, however, been thinking, for the last few years that the book needed not only a thorough revision but rather a substantial rewriting. They now take great pleasure in presenting to the readers the twelfth, thoroughly revised and enlarged, Golden Jubilee edition of the book. The subject-matter in the entire book has been re-written in the light of numerous criticisms and suggestions received from the users of the earlier editions in India and abroad. The basis of this revision has been the emergence of new literature on the subject, the constructive feedback from students and teaching fraternity, as well as those changes that have been made in the syllabi and/or the pattern of examination papers of numerous universities. Some prominent additions are given below: 1. Variance of Degenerate Random Variable 2. Approximate Expression for Expectation and Variance 3. Lyapounov’s Inequality 4. Holder’s Inequality 5. Minkowski’s Inequality 6. Double Expectation Rule or Double-E Rule and many others

Elementary Probability

Elementary Probability PDF

Author: David Stirzaker

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2003-08-18

Total Pages: 540

ISBN-13: 1139441035

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Now available in a fully revised and updated second edition, this well established textbook provides a straightforward introduction to the theory of probability. The presentation is entertaining without any sacrifice of rigour; important notions are covered with the clarity that the subject demands. Topics covered include conditional probability, independence, discrete and continuous random variables, basic combinatorics, generating functions and limit theorems, and an introduction to Markov chains. The text is accessible to undergraduate students and provides numerous worked examples and exercises to help build the important skills necessary for problem solving.