Books
I'm designating two books, in
addition to the class notes, as required.
In the past, students have
used the typed class notes (I'll tell you about these during the first
class meeting, and you'll find some information about them below) as their chief source of information, and I think that in
the future that this will continue to be the case. But I think it is
important that students also do some reading in the books.
Also, it should be kept in mind that the class notes are in
need of updating, and that they were never intended
to serve as the sole textbook for the course.
Below I'll list four books,
and make some comments about them.
The first two books are required (and the bookstore was supposed to have
ordered these in sufficient quantities), and the next two are optional
(and the bookstore may not have many copies of them, so that
it may be best if you ordered these books on your own if
you want either one of them).
-
Beyond ANOVA: Basics of Applied Statistics, Reissue edition,
by R. G. Miller, Jr.
(Chapman & Hall, 1996)
- My course notes follow this book somewhat closely in places. The strength
of the book is that it gives various methods for addressing a variety of
problems, grouping the methods according to what problems they address as
opposed to grouping them into separate chapters on nonparametric methods, robust
methods, and methods based on assumptions of normality. A weakness of the book
from the perspective of the typical STAT 554 student is that it assumes a
background in probability and statistics beyond the preprequites of this course.
Also, Rupert Miller died before he was able to produce a 2nd edition and so
newer methods are not included, and he did not have a chance to respond to
suggestons.
-
Statistical Concepts and Methods, by G. K. Bhattacharyya and R. A.
Johnson (Wiley, 1977)
- Students have commented that they found this book to be very
useful,
particularly if their previous exsposure to statistics was
limited. A strength of the book is that it
matches a large portion of what I teach in 554 rather closely, and
it's written at a much lower level than the Miller book (which many STAT
554 students find very challenging).
This book focuses mostly on fundamentals and basic methods, while the books by
Miller and Wilcox attempt to provide information about
some good but seldom used methods that aren't typically covered in 400- or
500-level statistics courses, as well as provide a deeper understanding
of some of the more commonly used procedures. (Also, the Miller and Wilcox books supply
more sophisticated insights about some of the basic procedures, while
Bhattacharyya and Johnson concentrate mostly on the more basic facts.)
If you experience trouble understanding the material during the first two
lectures, then (assuming that you don't want to bail out of the class)
I strongly recommend that you spend a lot of time studying the book by
Bhattacharyya & Johnson. A good portion of the
material in that book matches closely what I cover the first two weeks,
and I think that if you can find the time to read parts of the first half
of that book during the first two weeks of the semester, it'll be a good
investment of your time, helping you get off to a good start in the class by
making you more comfortable with the first portion of the course's material.
-
Fundamentals of Modern Statistical Methods: Substantially Improving Power
and Accuracy by R. R. Wilcox (Springer, 2001)
- The strength of this book, from the perspective of the typical STAT 554
student, is that it assumes very little background in statistics, and yet it
attempts to cover some of the latest and greatest methods
that are relevant to STAT 554.
A weakness of the book is that in attempting to simplify things, the author was
sloppy in places (but I have a lot of
comments and corrections about this book
on another web page and so that will help to address this weakness).
This book is relatively inexpensive, and is relatively easy to read,
and so I think it'll be a good investment.
-
Biostatistical Analysis, 4th ed., by J. H. Zar
(Prentice Hall, 1999)
- This is written for undergraduate students in biology who will use some
statistical methods in their work. A strength of the book is that it includes
some advanced material (certainly advanced for the typical undergraduate who
isn't a statistics or mathematics major), but covers it at a level suitable for
students without a good math background.
If you want to buy an extra book in
addition to the two which are required,
- strong students who intend to take other M.S. level statistics
courses should buy the
book by Wilcox (so you can get a simple introduction to some of the newer
robust methods);
- and students from various fields who want additional examples and
explanation of the more basic methods should consider the book by Zar.
Students will also be expected to purchase a set of class notes from the
bookstore. (I'll supply
you with the notes for the first 2 weeks so that you'll have time
to decide whether or not you want to take this class before paying for
the nonreturnable class notes.)
The class
notes save students
from having to take a lot of notes during the long
evening lecture periods, and thus reduces the possibility that you copy
things down incorrectly (some of the formulas do get a bit messy, and my
handwriting on the board at times leaves a lot to be desired), and good students, who listen well in class, have
been able to figure out how to do most of the homework problems by just
studying the notes.
(But I do present some material in class that is not in the
class notes, and so it's important that you attend all of the lectures
and pay attention.)
Click here for information about software,
and to learn about the Minitab books that are in the bookstore.
Read this before going to the bookstore
to buy either books or software.