Naked Statistics

This book serves such an incredibly important purpose in that it really explains the fundamentals of statistics in a way that can be appreciated and understood by the vast majority of reasonably educated laymen. Of course, that in itself begs the question: so what? What about statistics is so "important" that the average person should take notice? Well, for a lot of reasons that Mr. Wheelan explains so well its hard to add anything to it, but I'll give one brief attempt for those of you bothering to read the review: At its core, statistics is about organizing data in a meaningful way such that we can draw accurate conclusions about our environment...in other words, statistics can help us make sense of the world around us in a very meaningful and practical way. Statistics is really just a mathematically formalized form of what our brains do intuitively, and without that core concept of filtering and making sense of the information we're exposed to we would all be paralyzed - unable to make associations, draw conclusions, or derive any meaning from our environment. Learning would be impossible, life would be meaningless, and existence and survival itself would be impossible. Statistics takes that core function and focuses it in very particular ways, which if done correctly, can yield amazing results that add worthwhile knowledge and positivity to life. To quote the book, "Statistics is the most powerful tool we have for using information to some meaningful end." Further, if that description doesn't at least somewhat tempt you how about this: Even if you don't care about statistics, those that have enormous influence on your life and happiness (e.g. businesses, politicians, government organizations, media, and everybody else that has a vested interested in influencing your mindset, perspectives, and behaviors) very much care about statistics and use them, for both good and ill, to "help" you see and do things a certain way. Knowledge of statistics can help transform you from "propagandized" to "informed". This is one of my favorite aspects of the book, that is, the author acknowledges and recognizes the danger of inappropriately used statistics; he even conceived the book as an homage to How to Lie with Statistics: 1st (First) Edition , and as he very correctly points out right in the introduction of the book, "Statistics is like a high-caliber weapon: helpful when used correctly and potentially disastrous in the wrong hands." Amazingly, this book is a fun and enjoyable read. No seriously. Mr. Wheelan exposes himself as a fantastic teacher, bringing an enthusiasm and energy to the subject coupled with a gift of explaining ideas and concepts in a way that most (not just "stat people") can understand and appreciate. Although this isn't a "textbook" per se, I think it remains relevant for the whole spectrum of people from total "newbies" all the way to hard-core statistics researchers. Why? Fundamentals. The author explains the fundamentals in a clear concise way using practical, relevant, and familiar examples from our everyday lives. For those new to the subject you'll get an "intro to statistics" class from a very gifted Ivy-league professor that will give you a solid well-rooted realistic foundation that you can both apply to your everyday life as well as prepare you for higher level statistics courses if you so choose. For those already well-versed in statistics or professionals, it will reacquaint you with why what you do matters as well as provide you a wonderful way to explain to others why what you do matters. Personally, I'm somewhere in the middle in that I've had a reasonably high level statistics background (relative to the average college graduate, anyway) and as I read the book I kept thinking to myself, "Man, if only I had had this before taking my first stats course!" Outstanding book.

How many times have you wondered how two different people looking at the same report managed to draw totally opposite conclusions? How many times have you looked at a set of data yourself and decided that the data must be wrong because it doesn't show what you "know" to be true? Well, I suspect that you aren't alone. I suspect that you also have an aversion to "doing the math" necessary to convince yourself that the data is actually correct. Wheelan claims that "Statistics is like a high-caliber weapon: helpful when used correctly and potentially disastrous in the wrong hands." This is an incredibly important topic as we move forward into our increasingly connected world where we are creating data at an accelerating rate. The data is only raw knowledge, how we analyze that data is what allows us to derive useful information to create actionable knowledge. The tools we use to analyze the data is, like it or not, statistics. Wheelan gives us an easy to follow and understand overview of statistics. Even if you didn't like math in school, you will find this book useful as well as insightful. Here's the rub. No matter how hard we try, when using descriptive statistics, we lose the detail in the data. We've "summarized" it and just like the summary of a good book, we will miss a lot of the nuance in the story. Neither this review nor the summary of data known as descriptive statistics is an exception to that rule. And because of that loss of fidelity, we will find as Wheelan puts its, "Smart and honest people will often disagree about what the data are trying to tell us." Wheelan includes many examples of how statistics is enlightening and infuriating. The examples are from everyday life and you are likely to recognize them; things like "Money Ball" and the "Wall Street failure." You will learn about correlation, basic probability, the Central Limit Theorem, Inferences, Polling, Regression Analysis and more. All without tears! So why should you be interested? Because the big questions will be answered by statistical analysis and you will want to know at least enough to not be "taken in" by those who would purposely try and confuse you or convert you to their views using statistics and data. Wheelan believes that there are five "large" questions that statistics will help us answer in the future. 1. What is the future of football? Will it die of concussions? 2. What (if anything) is causing the dramatic rise in the incidence of autism? 3. How can we identify and reward good teachers and schools? 4. What are the best tools for fighting global poverty? 5. Who gets to know what about you? Wheelan doesn't answer these questions. The data is still being collected and analyzed. What he has done, however, is set the reader on the right path to understanding the complexity of those questions and why there aren't any easy answers. He has given the reader at least a working knowledge of statistics so that we can decide for ourselves who is doing the best job of presenting the information and knowledge buried in ever expanding universe of dots for us to connect. The sub title of this excellent book is "Stripping the dread from the data." What I found is that now I know how to make sure that I strip the dread from the statistics which applies to the data. The dread is when the proper use of statistics on that data shows my cherished beliefs to be ill conceived!

The author of the book did a great job ! The book is highly valuable for a variety of reasons: it is well structured, easy to understand for anyone - even people lacking mathematical education. It is full of practical illustrations and most importantly it made me want to go deeper into the subject with more mathematical books about probability theory and statistics. A must-read for anyone looking for an easy introduction to statistics !

I never thought I would laugh while reading about statistics. This book is absolutely wonderful, I can't recommend it enough! It has VERY good and clear explanations of statistical concepts, step by step, all the way from the concept behind every analysis (which is usually so hard to find on the internet) to the formula (which you will understand too). Most importantly, it addresses the use and misuse of statistics, which I found highly useful and interesting. The author is a fun guy and he writes in a very human and dynamic tone, so the book felt very entertaining. If you have been wanting to learn or understand the roots of statistics, do read this one. Thanks to the author for such a great piece!

"Naked Statistics: Stripping the Dread from the Data" is a book written by Charles Wheelan. It's designed to make the subject of statistics accessible, interesting, and less intimidating to people who may not have a strong background in mathematics or statistics. Here's an overview of what the book covers: Wheelan introduces the basic concepts of statistics in a clear, easy-to-understand manner. He focuses on making the subject approachable and relevant, using real-life examples and humor. The book explains how statistics are used in various aspects of daily life, from sports and politics to weather forecasts and medical studies. This approach helps to demystify statistics and show its practical value. Topics such as correlation vs. causation, the importance of sample size, regression analysis, and probability are explained in a non-technical language. While the book is accessible to beginners, it also delves into more complex statistical concepts, making it useful for those who have some background in the subject but wish to deepen their understanding. "Naked Statistics" is often recommended for students, professionals, or anyone who wants to understand the basics of statistics without getting bogged down in complex formulas and technical jargon. It's praised for its ability to make a challenging subject both understandable and entertaining.

Entertaining and informative. Anyone can read this any understand things about statistics that they just kind of glossed over before. The reason it works is the author's focus on an entertaining writing style, meaning that it doesn't feel heavy even though it focuses on some very important topics.

Charles Wheelan has done a great job here. There are so many dull statistics resources out there that start with a formula, use a cliched example, and don't explain the intuition behind the principles or how they inter-relate or relate to the real world. This book is the polar opposite. Wheelan explains a problem or a phenomenon, normally an interesting one that isn't contrived, and then shows how stats and probability can help us understand it. Some of the issues discussed are: - Using standard error and confidence intervals to explain why political polls can be highly accurate - Using regression analysis to explain why some UK civil servants might be at risk of health problems - How Netflix and Target use statistical inferences for recommending stuff On top of that there are some brain teasers in here (like the Monty Hall problem) and nuanced discussions of how some people misuse statistics (even unintentionally) leading to bad results. This book connected a lot of dots for me because it brings together the concepts in a very integrated way. The writing is extremely clear, and often funny and self-deprecating. It gets at the intuition behind the big ideas and how they link up. The math is not ignored but not overcomplicated either. You get to see the "big picture". Some people say that the book is quite US centric; that's undeniable. I too am not a huge fan of US sports anecdotes in books because as a Brit I can barely relate. However I found that this did not impede my understanding. One minor issue I had with the book was that the square root symbols were all messed up (there were just lots of floating dots over the numbers, maybe a printing issue). To sum up, I would highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to understand the fundamentals of stats and probability in a highly entertaining and practical way. I will be re-reading this one.