Mind on Statistics - Standalone Book

I rented this book for a biostatistics class. Chegg.com has answers and problems worked out for some of the homework assignments. That and extra credit assignments is the reason I passed with a B.

I used this book for a college-level introductory statistics course. In general, it's just an average textbook.The first half or so of the text is a mishmash of research technique/methodology and introductions to statistical inference, closing out with an introduction to probability. Then the second half of the book takes all of those statistical inference topics and devotes a chapter (or more) to each one. Though this breadth-first, depth-second approach might sound good in theory, the end result is that a whole lot of material is repeated two or three times, with the earlier iterations being completely useless compared to the later treatments. I suspect that the textbook is laid out this way to accommodate a lighter, perhaps high-school level, Statistics course in addition to serving as a college text, but it suffers for it. The book feels poorly organized, and information on a topic is often spread out over several chapters when it should all be in one place.That brings me to my second complaint, which is bloat. On many occasions, similar ideas that only differ in the details are completely re-explained, over and over, for each individual occasion. Again, this might sound like a thorough way to treat the material, but I would have much preferred a short explanation of how the procedures are similar and then a highlighting of the differences. Two topics in particular (confidence intervals and hypothesis tests) are given a total of four chapters when they could have easily been covered in half the space. In general, the book could be much more concise without losing any clarity. In fact, I feel brevity might actually make some of the topics easier to understand, as the endless repetitions and re-explanations can lead to confusion.But, it's not all bad. I quite liked the authors' style, which made the information easy to digest and vaguely entertaining to read. Every section is also packed full with a truly impressive amount of examples--so many, in fact, that by the end of my course I found it more efficient to just skip them. Still, it was nice to always have a case-study or step-by-step example to look through if I wanted more clarification. I don't mind that particular type of bloat, since it's easy to use as needed.Overall, I wouldn't actively recommend this book, but if it's assigned to you for your course, it's not terrible. My suggestion is to take notes on the key ideas/procedures and skim the rest. I would also organize your notes by topic rather than by chapter, because this book bounces back and forth so much between topics that your notes will feel very out of order if you do them by chapter.

Right book that I needed. Wasn't a horrible condition but not the best. Clearly has been used. Bent. Writing inside the pages. Still does its job cause I needed it for the homework problems at the back of the book. Description should include classes that it is used in. I used it for STATS 7 at UCI with Brigitte Baldi, works perfectly for the class.

Met expectations

This is the exact book I needed for my class. Way to go Amazon!!!

Boring but needed it for school

Like most other people, I needed this book as a course text.If you are prepared to sit down and read it as a leisurely read with a computer running so you can search for supplementary explanations, you won't mind it as much as I hate it. When keeping up with course work though, it's ambiguous explanations, changing terminology and lack of topic structure and flow means a disruptive reading pattern and wasted time and energy. Two attribute a busy student values immensely.It follows a random pattern of blurting out some information about a topic, but falls short on coherently building topics in a logical manner. Yes there is a lot of information in it, but it is repetitive and disorganised.It starts introducing a topic and then abruptly stops, lists some examples and case studies, and starts something else. It leaves most of the learning up to interpretations of the examples and case studies.The definitions can be poor, or even non-existant, leaving it seeming more like an exercise book, rather than a textbook. It has virtually no reference value at all.Unfortunately, it's another Cengage publication, and it reads just like any other Cengage publication I have had to read. Disorganised and a lack of professional scrutiny. Too much attention is paid to formatting page aesthetics and creating a page count. It's a commercial commodity, not an academic asset.All in all, a very expensive exercise book.

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I ordered books for my self and my son , they were sent undamaged and as per expectations. Thanks for that.

Exactly what was needed and customer service from my seller was beyond helpful