Statistics: An Introduction Using R, 2nd Edition

Preface

This book is an introduction to the essentials of statistical analysis for students who have little or no background in mathematics or statistics. The audience includes first- and second-year undergraduate students in science, engineering, medicine and economics, along with post-experience and other mature students who want to relearn their statistics, or to switch to the powerful new language of R.

For many students, statistics is the least favourite course of their entire time at university. Part of this is because some students have convinced themselves that they are no good at sums, and consequently have tried to avoid contact with anything remotely quantitative in their choice of subjects. They are dismayed, therefore, when they discover that the statistics course is compulsory. Another part of the problem is that statistics is often taught by people who have absolutely no idea how difficult some of the material is for non-statisticians. As often as not, this leads to a recipe-following approach to analysis, rather than to any attempt to understand the issues involved and how to deal with them.

The approach adopted here involves virtually no statistical theory. Instead, the assumptions of the various statistical models are discussed at length, and the practice of exposing statistical models to rigorous criticism is encouraged. A philosophy of model simplification is developed in which the emphasis is placed on estimating effect sizes from data, and establishing ...