Stripping the Dread from the Data - Naked Statistics

A well written introductory book on a topic as feared as statistics is something worth looking at. It's not an academic book, but it's a very nice first read for someone who will take any statistics course, or maybe just have an urge to learn more about statistics but doesn't want to get into all that math from the beginning. Here you'll learn broad concepts and uses.

The book offers an easy to read experience in refreshing your math studies about statistics.
It is sprinkled with research data here and there that is interesting and sometimes eye opening.

I only award 4 stars based on the price of the book, even though it is in the category of research/economics, I don't think it offers that much new information to warrant the high price point.

This book was a requirement for my statistics class so I bought it. It is an easy read, has interesting correlations between statistics and everyday use, and will make the required reading seem like less like a chore. I didn't think I was going to enjoy reading this book, but I actually have.

In my profession in the financial field I stay on the lookout for books that may make it easier to explain some of the concepts I use to the clients I work with so picked this one up to see how it handled statistical analysis and regression. I had long been a fan of the classic "How to Lie With Statistics" by Darrell Huff written in the 50's and this book is "an homage" to that work. I enjoyed it because I like statistics and I think the average reader will enjoy it but they may want to shy away from the chapter appendixes as they get more in depth. The author does a good job of steering away from the more complex issues (non-linear regression analysis, for example) and comes up with some good examples to illustrate his points. He does one of the best jobs I have encountered of explaining the "Monty Hall problem" which is why an individual, after having picked say, "door number one" and Monty shows that door number 3 has a goat behind it and offers to let the contestant change his mind to door number 2. It sounds counter intuitive but the right choice is to make the change. Why? Guess you'll have to get the book and check it out.

I liked his explanation of concepts enough that I purchased his book "Naked Economics" despite my extensive study of the topic in anticipation that I will find some nuggets of explanation that I can use.

I saw the author, Charles Wheelan, on TV / C-Span (or equivalent), during one late evening and was so taken with the combination of the author's knowledge base, wit and humorous (or at least unforgetable) examples, that I had to order this book. The first 2 chapters have read well, and actually motivate you to want to continue on to the next chapter-can you imagine (Statistics)! I am looking forward to completing the book soon, over the weekend. In context, I have been through an excellent (GWU) MBA program, and its required Statistics course, as well as, Biostatistics in Medical training, but wanted to consolidate fundamentals with real world examples.
I especially wanted to know how Statistics is, or can, or has been used to corrupt, confound or distort reality.
As as aside, I have also purchased Naked Economics," another book by authored by Charles Wheelan.

The author's (failed) attempt at humor detracts from the overall message of the book. I would only recommend this book to my undergraduate statistics students if I wanted them to develop apathy for the subject.

fantastic! the author knows exacyly how much to write and how much to leave for a more advanced book. not exactly perfect for first timers but very good for reviweing for someone who has the basics. preety cheap too.

This book provides great high level statistics explanations using easy to follow examples. Serves as a great refresher if you've been away from the field for a while, or a great intro if you're prepping to take college stats classes.

This book is awesome! Breaks down statistical ideas by using real life examples. Very easy to read and understand. Even if you know statistics, it's fun to see how Charles Wheelan applies it to real life!

Although the book contains and uses many references to sports statistics (which I could do without), it is a useful book with which one can get a more intuitive feeling about stats. Since I already have "Statistics without tears" (not by the same author), it's a good complement to it.

The author provides a great overview of statistics with numerous real-world examples. Somewhat similar approach as Freakonomics (eg. more conversational than mathematical). Highly recommended for the aspiring statistician/data scientist.

Fun to just keep reading away for twenty minutes or whatever you've got in the next few hours. This book is fun to read and makes a topic like statistics learn-able. It's a pleasure grasping a lot more of difficult arcane stuff. :)

The author provides a great overview of statistics with numerous real-world examples. Somewhat similar approach as Freakonomics (eg. more conversational than mathematical). Highly recommended for the aspiring statistician/data scientist.

Fun to just keep reading away for twenty minutes or whatever you've got in the next few hours. This book is fun to read and makes a topic like statistics learn-able. It's a pleasure grasping a lot more of difficult arcane stuff. :)

I smiled while reading, I even laughed at times. Wheelan is gifted at explaining, entertaining and educating at the same time. There is something in this book for everyone. I am recommending this book to anyone I know who enjoys reading and learning. An older, wise colleague borrowed mine for a night, went home and took a look and ordered a copy for his family. I recommend this book to anyone who uses statistics.

Valuable information on a highly relevant topic explained in a very intuitive and entertaining way. Recommended for those needing to figure out how to make good usage of data within companies and how to assess inferences on these data.

Non math types will enjoy this book. Everyone will benefit from reading it so they aren't snowed by statistics. They'll ask the questions that the media fail to ask. If nothing else, people will learn how to double their odds of winning the big prize if they're ever on let's make a deal.

This is a well written IMPORTANT elucidation of what an informed citizen should understand about the statistics we all encounter in our daily activities. I wish this had been available when I attended college a half century ago!

Was taking a stats class and concepts were completely flying over my head. I knew enough to do homework well, but I didn't quite understand what I was doing. After reading this I felt confident I knew concepts and how to apply them.

This book is excellent for people with little background in statistics. It explains concepts clearly and gives great examples of statistical concepts. It's basically the easy-to-read accompaniment to an intro-level stats course that will make your quality of life so much better.

This book is fantastic in telling the life experience about statistic; however, I purchased this book, hoping for more compact lesson for a self-tutor since I haven't learn statistic in school yet. Upon the opening of this book I was wondering where all the lessons go, and found out that the lessons are put in a form of experience after experience.

This is a very readable and entertaining statistics book. Yes really, it is fun. I took a statistics class in graduate school, where I learned all the formulas and calculations. Honestly, I learned more from this book because it tells you when and how to apply your new knowledge. It's funny, and is filled with practical examples. I'm still not totally convinced about his Let's Make a Deal statistics though. LOL You don't have to know any math to read this book. This author leads the calculations to computer programs. I wish my grad school professor had done the same.

This book did a fantastic job of simplifying the main ideas of statistics. Everything was written very clearly and the example used in the book really helped demonstrate the potential uses and applications of statistics in real life situations.

The psychologist Gerd Gigerenzer has suggested that we drop trigonometry from the high school math curriculum and add probability theory and elementary statistics. This is a first-rate idea, because only engineers and physicists use trigonometry, but we all must understand basic statistics to evaluate claims in the daily newspaper. Besides, probability theory is great fun, and trigonometry is pretty boring (until you get to de Moivre's formula, Fourier series, and the like).

Charles Wheehan wrote a first-rate introduction to economics (Naked Economics). This book is not, to my mind, quite as exciting, but it is very nicely done and well worth reading. I would have liked a serious treatment of Bayes Rule and conditional probabilities, because here is where people really get things mixed up. For instance, even professional physicians are often confused by the probability of testing positive if you have the disease, and the probability that you have the disease if you test positive. The former can be very close to one, and yet the latter can be very close to zero, if the disease is rare in the population.

Wheelan uses real world examples that the reader can easily relate to and make you giggle at times. I'm looking forward to using a few of his examples at work - with the proper accreditation, of course!

It is very informative book, but the chapter on Regressional Analysis is poorly written. Here are two shortcomings of this first-rate author:
- He pivots without saying so; may revert back later. Without fully going over one example, he would introduce a new example.
- He sometimes does not know how to group or categorize information, with or without sub-headings. This results in meandering narrative in places.
The Appendix to Chapter 11 is rushed. The title is "The t-distribution" but it is as much about "Degrees of Freedom", neither concept explained properly. It needed two graphs, rather than one.
Finally I wish a gifted author like him would give rationale of why various statistical terms -- like 'Standard Error' -- were needed.

This is another great book from Wheelan. "Naked Economics" remains my favorite economics book for generally reading. Now "Naked Statistics" is my favorite statistics book (replacing "How to Lie with Statistics"). As with all stats books, it gets a little slow in the middle, but the first few chapters and the last few are terrific. I plan on assigning it to all of my stats and econometrics classes from now on.

My Psych-Stats class online had some stagnant assignments. Discussion board can be forced conversation as it is. When you have to make conversation about t-tests for independent and correlated groups.... ZZZZZZZZZ.

This book is a humorous read with practical examples of historical stats that spice up what would otherwise be a bland topic.

The more that data is available abundantly, the more important it becomes that people are more literate in statistics. Mr Wheelan talks about the great uses and abuses of statistics in a way that compels me to learn more about the topic. This book is great for people who see themselves as potentially more savvy consumers of data and research as well as new practitioners in statistical analysis.