Statistics: A Very Short Introduction

David J. Hand

Oct 2008 · OUP Oxford

About this ebook

Modern statistics is very different from the dry and dusty discipline of the popular imagination. In its place is an exciting subject which uses deep theory and powerful software tools to shed light and enable understanding. And it sheds this light on all aspects of our lives, enabling astronomers to explore the origins of the universe, archaeologists to investigate ancient civilisations, governments to understand how to benefit and improve society, and businesses to learn how best to provide goods and services. Aimed at readers with no prior mathematical knowledge, this Very Short Introduction explores and explains how statistics work, and how we can decipher them. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Ratings and reviews

Statistical analysis underlies much of the modern scientific research. In fact, it is not too much of a stretch to say that many scientific fields have come of age and many other fields have become "scientific" thanks to the extensive use of statistics that they employ. The turning point seems to have been the advent of modern computer. For the first time in history the raw computational power has not been an issue any more, and the only limits on the quality of research became the amount of data that can be collected and the understanding of statistical methods that need to be employed for analysis. This very short introduction deals with statistics as a method for analyzing empirical data. As such, it does not present statistics as a dry and self-contained mathematical subject. All the statistical methods are introduced in conjunction with particular practical problems that those methods are developed to address. The author, David Hand, is trying to convey the message that statistics is as much of an art as it is a rigorous mathematical method. No two research projects are the same, so no simple statistical procedure could be used to describe them all. A careful analysis of the problem at hand and a judicial choice of statistical methods are the most likely to yield the most useful information. The book is divided in seven chapters and each one deals with a particular statistical concept or a particular way in which the statistics is used. The chapters are short but informative, and the whole book makes for one smooth read. It will not overburden you with mathematical detail, and it can be used as a springboard for further reading into the field of statistics.

Worth your time.

About the author

David Hand is Professor of Statistics at Imperial College, London, where he is head of the Statistics Section in the Mathematics Department and head of the Mathematics in Banking and Finance Programme of the Institute for Mathematical Sciences. His most recent book is Information Generation: How Data Rule Our World. He launched the journal Statistics and Computing, and has been elected President of the Royal Statistical Society for 2008 and 2009. He was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries in 1999 and a Fellow of the British Academy in 2003. He has received various awards and prizes for his research, and acts as a consultant to a wide range of organisations, including governments, banks, pharmaceutical companies, manufacturing industry, and health service providers.