Textbook Information

The book by Casella and Berger is the required text for the course, and the book by Bain and Englehardt is optional.

The Casella and Berger book is towards the upper end on the difficulty scale for M.S. level books on mathematical statistics, whereas the Bain and Englehardt book is towards the lower end of the scale (as is the widely used book by Hogg and Craig). In the past, many students have told me that they liked the book by Bain and Englehardt, and that they felt it was well worth what they paid for it since it contains many simple worked-out examples. The paperback version of this book is relatively inexpensive, and since it's been a recommended text for many years now, one might be able to buy a used copy and experience additional savings. But the book by Bain and Englehardt does not cover all of the more advanced material that I include in STAT 652, and it doesn't tie all of the topics together as well as the book by Casella and Berger does.

I'll point out that past students have mostly used the class notes that I've written as the primary source of information about STAT 652, and I expect that this will continue to be the case. My notes are based on many different sources, and do not cover topics in the same order as the text book does. But hopefully you'll find that my notes organize the topics well, ease you into new topics, and makes nice transitions from one topic to the next. I'll give you the notes to cover the first two lectures, but you'll have to purchase the remainder of the notes, which are considered required materials for the course and should be brought to class each time, at the GMU bookstore. (Sometimes the bookstore does not put course notes on the shelf near the other required materials for a course, but rather course notes are placed in a separate section of the bookstore. (Please read this for information about the ridiculous price the bookstore charges for the course notes.))