Statistical Reasoning for Everyday Life

Preface

Supplements

To the Student: How to Succeed in Your Statistics Course

Applications Index



1. Speaking of Statistics

1.1 What Is/Are Statistics?

1.2 Sampling

1.3 Types of Statistical Studies

1.4 Should You Believe a Statistical Study?

Focus on Psychology: Are You Driving "Drunk" on Your Cell Phone?

Focus on Public Health: Is Your Lifestyle Healthy?



2. Measurement in Statistics

2.1 Data Types and Levels of Measurement

2.2 Dealing with Errors

2.3 Uses of Percentages in Statistics

2.4 Index Numbers

Using Technology: Inflation Calculator

Focus on Politics: Who Benefited Most from Lower Tax Rates?

Focus on Economics: Can a Redefined CPI Help Solve the Budget Crisis?



3. Visual Displays of Data

3.1 Frequency Tables

Using Technology: Frequency Tables

3.2 Picturing Distributions of Data

Using Technology: Bar Graphs

Using Technology: Pie Charts

Using Technology: Line Charts and Histograms

3.3 Graphics in the Media

Using Technology: Graphs with Multiple Data Sets

3.4 A Few Cautions About Graphics

Focus on History: Can War Be Described with a Graph?

Focus on Environment: Are We Changing Earth's Atmosphere?



4. Describing Data

4.1 What Is Average?

Using Technology: Mean, Median, and Mode

4.2 Shapes of Distributions

4.3 Measures of Variation

Using Technology: Boxplots

Using Technology: Standard Deviation

4.4 Statistical Paradoxes

Focus on the Stock Market: What's Average About the Dow?

Focus on Economics: Are the Rich Getting Richer?



5. A Normal World

5.1 What Is Normal?

5.2 Properties of the Normal Distribution

Using Technology: Standard Scores in Excel

Using Technology: Standard Scores and Percentiles

5.3 The Central Limit Theorem

Focus on Education: What Can We Learn from SAT Trends?

Focus on Psychology: Are We Smarter than Our Parents?



6. Probability in Statistics

6.1 The Role of Probability in Statistics: Statistical Significance

6.2 Basics of Probability

6.3 The Law of Large Numbers

6.4 Ideas of Risk and Life Expectancy

6.5 Combining Probabilities (Supplementary Section)

Focus on Social Science: Do Lotteries Harm the Poor?

Focus on Law: Is DNA Fingerprinting Reliable?



7. Correlation and Causality

7.1 Seeking Correlation

Using Technology: Scatterplots and Correlation Coefficients

7.2 Interpreting Correlations

7.3 Best-Fit Lines and Prediction

7.4 The Search for Causality

Focus on Education: What Helps Children Learn to Read?

Focus on Environment: What Is Causing Global Warming?



8. From Samples to Populations

8.1 Sampling Distributions

8.2 Estimating Population Means

Using Technology: Confidence Interval Estimate of a Population Mean

8.3 Estimating Population Proportions

Using Technology: Confidence Interval Estimate of a Population

Proportion

Focus on History: Where Did Statistics Begin?

Focus on Literature: How Many Words Did Shakespeare Know?



9. Hypothesis Testing

9.1 Fundamentals of Hypothesis Testing

9.2 Hypothesis Tests for Population Means

Using Technology: Hypothesis Test for a Population Mean

9.3 Hypothesis Tests for Population Proportions

Using Technology: Hypothesis Test for a Population Proportion

Focus on Health and Education: Will Your Education Help You Live Longer?

Focus on Agriculture: Are Genetically Modified Foods Safe?





Epilogue: A Perspective on Statistics

Appendix A: z-Score Tables

Appendix B: Table of Random Numbers

Suggested Readings

Credits

Glossary

Answers

Index