Statistics in a Nutshell

Appendix C. References

Preface

Abelson, Robert P. Statistics as Principled Argument. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associations (1995).

Abelson, who taught at Yale University for 42 years, provides an excellent presentation of how to think through, and with, statistics.

Frey, Bruce. Statistics Hacks: Tips and Tools for Measuring the World and Beating the Odds. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly (2006).

Statistics Hacks is a collection of entertaining short essays that use everyday examples to introduce statistical concepts, from testing the randomness or lack thereof in your iPod’s “random” shuffle feature to using Benford’s law to detect fabricated data.

Huff, Darryl. How to Lie with Statistics. New York: W.W. Norton (1954; reprint 1993).

Originally published in 1954, Huff’s work remains a classic introduction to how even the simplest statistical techniques can be used to mislead, confuse, or even outright lie. Readers who can look past the dated examples and (in particular) stereotypical illustrations will find this slim volume an excellent resource and a lot of fun as well.

Salsburg, David. The Lady Tasting Tea: How Statistics Revolutionized Science in the Twentieth Century. New York: W.H. Freeman (2001).

This popular history examines the application of statistics and probability to scientific problems in the twentieth century, shaping the story around the lives and accomplishments of pioneers such as Ronald Fisher, Karl Pearson, and Jerzy Neyman.

Chapter 1

Carmines, Edward G., and Richard A. ...