Statistical Reasoning for Everyday Life

Jeffrey Bennett specializes in mathematics and science education. In addition to his work in mathematics, Dr. Bennett (whose PhD is in astrophysics) has written leading college-level textbooks in mathematics, astronomy, statistics, and the new science of astrobiology, as well as books for the general public. He also proposed and developed both the Colorado Scale Model Solar System on the University of Colorado at Boulder campus and the Voyage Scale Model Solar System, a permanent, outdoor exhibit on the National Mall in Washington, DC. He has recently begun writing science books for children, including the award-winning Max Goes to the Moon and Max Goes to Mars.

William L. Briggs has been on the mathematics faculty at the University of Colorado at Denver for 22 years. He developed the quantitative reasoning course for liberal arts students at the University of Colorado at Denver, supported by his textbook Using and Understanding Mathematics. He is a University of Colorado President's Teaching Scholar, an Outstanding Teacher awardee of the Rocky Mountain Section of the MAA, and the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship to Ireland.

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?

10. t Tests, Two-Way Tables, and ANOVA

10.1 t Distribution for Inferences about a Mean

            Using Technology: The t Distribution

10.2 Hypothesis Testing with Two-Way Tables

            Using Technology: Hypothesis Testing with Two-Way Tables

10.3 Analysis of Variance (One-Way Anova)

            Using Technology: Analysis of Variance

            Focus on Criminology: Can You Tell a Fraud When You See One?

            Focus on Education: What Can a Fourth-Grader Do with Statistics?

Epilogue: A Perspective on Statistics

Appendix A: z-Score Tables

Appendix B: Table of Random Numbers

Suggested Readings

Credits

Glossary

Answers

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