A Statistical Guide for the Ethically Perplexed

Reviews / Votes

"This text draws attention to a topic that often seems to be neglected or at least carelessly regarded: the intersection of statistics and ethics. ... this text represents Hubert and Wainer's attempt to balance statistics and standards of ethical practice. The authors achieve this by providing interesting and relevant real-life examples covering a variety of topics ... this book stands out as a unique text that combines a review of mathematical theorems and formulas, guidance on how to be sharp when using or interpreting statistics, and the impacts (often negative) that can happen (and have happened) when analyses are conducted carelessly. All of these components come together effectively to raise the reader's awareness of ethics in creating and interpreting statistics, and ultimately help the reader become a more astute and ethically responsible analyst."
-Journal of Official Statistics, Vol. 30, No. 3, 2014

"... a one-of-a-kind volume. ... In 18 pithy chapters, this paperback edition covers some of the most important issues of correct reasoning to reach correct conclusions. ... a lot of well written information. ... Do you really need another book, this book, on research and statistics? YES!"
-Malcolm James Ree, Personnel Psychology, Spring 2014

"... a fascinating and at times perplexing read ... I learned some surprising things from reading it ..."
-Paul T. Seed, Significance, April 2014

"... most should find it of great use as a guide to the literature on aspects of our discipline that we may lack a formal background in. This is especially so if we are most familiar with the application of statistics to the natural sciences rather than the human sciences. I think that a teacher of senior courses in applied statistics would find a use for this book in helping put some real-world flesh on the theoretical bones of the course. It would also be a useful source of readings (or lead to the discovery of readings) for handouts."
-Murray Jorgensen, Australian & New Zealand Journal of Statistics, 2013

"... even the most experienced statisticians will find the extensive quoted extracts and discussions entertaining, informative, and illuminating. ... The volume will provide a great source of illustrative material to enliven courses teaching the ideas and methods behind the topics discussed within it. More than that, however, a course, or perhaps a reading group, based around this book would complement the necessarily dryer material describing the ideas and structures of statistical methods. It would drive home the vital importance of statistics to modern society and certainly make the students sit up and take notice.
In short, the authors are to be congratulated on producing a wonderful volume. I believe that all students of statistics, perhaps of science more generally, would benefit substantially from reading it (and then re-reading it when they had a few years' practical experience under their belts)."
-David J. Hand, International Statistical Review (2013), 81, 2

"... valuable as a reference ... . There is a 40-page bibliography, a six-page author index, a 14-page subject index, and a 13-page list of sources, plus a 105 page online supplement that consists mostly of legal decisions and recommended reading. Using all the resources provided, one can assemble a very long list of issues and applications, with readings and references. ... recommended ... a resource the statistically sophisticated teacher can mine for material from which to create their own examples to engage students."
-Robert W. Hayden, MAA Review, December 2012

"This thorough and readable work covers important topics spanning specific and general causation to experimental design. It offers engaging examples, lucid explanations, and a thorough consideration of truly important issues, giving readers the knowledge to deal more effectively with ethically charged situations. A valuable guide for sorting through ethical issues in the behavioral, social, and biomedical sciences."
-C.K. Gunsalus, Director, National Center for Professional and Research Ethics, and Research Professor, Coordinated Science Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign