Introduction and Descriptive Statistics
(Formulas are not everyday language...( starts Harvey J. Brightman in his introduction to this non-text book text book Statistics In Plain English, and thus (statistics should be presented in a way that students or managers, not teachers, learn best...[and this is] pictures and plain English.( (p.1). This is Brightman(s way of lulling a non-mathematical reader into the text. Unfortunately there is only so much an author can do to make statistics read like words, and this book remains in complicated textbook. Upon saying that however, it is easier to glean the foundation of statistics from reading this text than most. In the first chapter Introduction and Descriptive Statistics, Brightman eases the reader into statistical analysis. Brightman tries to demonstrate that statistics are all around us. In fact it would be difficult to go through a full week without using statistics. Imagine watching a football game where no one kept score. The action itself might provide enough excitement to hold your attention for a while, but think of all the drama that would be lost if winning and losing weren't at issue. Without statistics we couldn't plan our budgets, pay our taxes, enjoy games to their fullest, evaluate classroom performance... Brightman is screaming (Are you beginning to get the picture? We need statistics.(
He then takes a look at the most basic form of statistics, known as descriptive statistics. This branch of statistics lays the foundation for all statistical knowledge (pretty important, huh?), but it is not something that you should learn simply so you can use it in the distant future. Descriptive statistics can be used now, in English class, in physics class, in history, at the football stadium, in the grocery store. Everyone probably already knows more about these statistics than you think. Unfortunately this is where the plain English slows down and Statistics in Plain English sh...