Applied Statistical Methods

Book excerpt: Applied Statistical Methods covers the fundamental understanding of statistical methods necessary to deal with a wide variety of practical problems. This 14-chapter text presents the topics covered in a manner that stresses clarity of understanding, interpretation, and method of application. The introductory chapter illustrates the importance of statistical analysis. The next chapters introduce the methods of data summarization, including frequency distributions, cumulative frequency distributions, and measures of central tendency and variability. These topics are followed by discussions of the fundamental principles of probability, the concepts of sample spaces, outcomes, events, probability, independence of events, and the characterization of discrete and continuous random variables. Other chapters explore the distribution of several important statistics; statistical tests of hypotheses; point and interval estimation; and simple linear regression. The concluding chapters review the elements of single- and two-factor analysis of variance and the design of analysis of variance experiments. This book is intended primarily for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in the mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences, as well as in economics, business, and related areas. Researchers and line personnel in industry and government will find this book useful in self-study.