Statistics for Dummies

 

Why are stats books written by stuffy statisticians? These books are dry, complicated, over-engineered, nad use the worst examples. In fact, any publishers out there considering a book written by a statistician should consider pairing them with a mystery-novel author or someone with a keen mind for interesting the reader.

I went and picked up Statistics for Dummies by Deborah Rumsey, Ph.D. Lke my friend Foley says all the time, the dummies books are clearly written and provide simple explanations for important things that self-inflated experts tend to complicate. This book is no exception to that. Rumsey offers stats explained in terms of workplace, gambling, and television ratings. These are examples that anyone can identify with and use in everyday life. I blogged about an everyday example from a local retail pharmacy store not too long ago:

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This is a great example of how stats can be explained in everyday terms, or to complicate the language for the stuffy-old experts, colloquial nomenclature. You see, there is a way to explain complicated things in simple concise language.

Another great example is Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. This books takes economic analysis and statistics and applies them to oddball but interesting examples and comparisons like real estate agents and radical racist groups. It asks questions like why drug dealers live with their mothers. While this might not seem like a college text, and I imagine it might be somewhere, it could be the backdrop for stats projects of similar nature in a classroom somewhere.

What does this have to do with my doctoral journey? The point of the dissertation and subsequent publishings, etc. is to simply explain to practitioners the results of the research. Can you imagine someone using complex language in a boardroom to explain their own research and expect to get hired to a consulting gig?

I am eagerly applying my new Statistics for Dummies book to my next class at University of Phoenix, RES/722.

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