Applied Statistics and Probability for Engineers, 5th Edition

Preface

INTENDED AUDIENCE

This is an introductory textbook for a first course in applied statistics and probability for undergraduate students in engineering and the physical or chemical sciences. These individuals play a significant role in designing and developing new products and manufacturing systems and processes, and they also improve existing systems. Statistical methods are an important tool in these activities because they provide the engineer with both descriptive and analytical methods for dealing with the variability in observed data. Although many of the methods we present are fundamental to statistical analysis in other disciplines, such as business and management, the life sciences, and the social sciences, we have elected to focus on an engineering-oriented audience. We believe that this approach will best serve students in engineering and the chemical/physical sciences and will allow them to concentrate on the many applications of statistics in these disciplines. We have worked hard to ensure that our examples and exercises are engineering- and science-based, and in almost all cases we have used examples of real data—either taken from a published source or based on our consulting experiences.

We believe that engineers in all disciplines should take at least one course in statistics. Unfortunately, because of other requirements, most engineers will only take one statistics course. This book can be used for a single course, although we have provided enough material ...