Beginning Statistics

An Introduction for Social Scientists

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

This is a good solid book that introduces the topic well. Student feedback is mainly positive - some swear by the book, while others don't find it engaging enough. The second edition is far stronger than the first.

A really useful reference book for those embarking on their statistics journey in the social sciences or a great handbook for introductory stats courses.

A simple, but elegant and eloquent book. A good start to help you passing your first Statistics module exam.

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

I intend to use and promote this book to students who are interested in using statistics in their research - either students I supervise for their dissertations or those in my research design course who would like to use quantitative methods in their research. The book is written very clearly and covers all the key issues in relation to analysing and presenting quantitative data.

Although a very comprehensive approach to statistics, students often found the level of this book to be exceeding their level of understanding.

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.

A good example of an introduction to the use of statistics and statistical analysis in particular. Real world, often UK based, examples are helpfully scattered throughout the text and the activities provided are straightforward, well laid out and applied. I think this will be an ideal text for leading undergraduate students through the, all too often for them, scary world of quantitative analysis.

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