Beginning Statistics

An Introduction for Social Scientists

straightforward easy to read book for students new with statistics. Lots of examples. WIll however not adopt the book, because i am looking for a textbook including qualitative research and a link to SPSS or other statistical pacakage

This text provides the basics for social scientists to compile and use statistics for highlighting issues in numerical terms.

The book does not address the requirements of my students who need a more prescriptive approach not only explaining the theoretical stance but also practical implementation using minicab or SPSS.

I requested this book for a course in empirical methodologies that I have run for a few years. It now turned out it's my colleague who is going to run it next time but I have suggested him to let this book replace the one we have been using until now for several reasons
- The chapters follow a structure that goes well along with the way students acquire and start to work with data from a practical perspective (Our course includes an empirical project)
- The book stays within the range of statistical tools that we can reasonably get the students to understand at a beginners' course so we wont have to skip any chapters
- There is more explanation and less calculations which makes it more approachable for beginners.

An easy to understand text with clear examples for students new to statistics.

This textbook is very helpful in helping students grasp the importance of statistics. The basic assumptions of statistics are also clearly identifiable. It allows the student to journey into statistics, regardless of prior experience with the subject matter. The book is user friendly owing to the layout of the chapters. Presenting the methods in a step-by-step format is also extremely helpful, especially for classroom purposes as well as independent study. The progression from introduction through to the various important concepts within statistics is helpful in taking students up to the point of performing statistical techniques. The inclusion of chapter summaries, practice questions and a glossary is very helpful in solidifying students' understanding of statistics. The one thing that was most profound about this book was it's applicability to reality. It is so important to make statistics easy to grasp, and this is exactly what this book does.

Will be useful for those needing to understand statistics to apply knowledge to professional practice.

This book is too conversational. I would like some more depth about the topics although it is an introductory text.

Clear and actually _readable_ (not wholly expected in a stats text book!)
Some excellent examples and exercises - clear, amusing and with good explanations.
An excellent text for a basic research methods course.