Scan barcode
tridea2514's review against another edition
3.0
A somewhat witty exploration of basic statistical concepts if you're interested in such. You do have to enjoy some of the same pop culture references as the author to truly get the best experience out of the book, though. Not bad, but not a substitute for a class.
bunrab's review against another edition
5.0
It's not easy to make statistics (as a subject, not the actual statistics themselves) funny, but he manages it. Actually, he manages to make some of the actual statistics pretty funny, too.
daniell's review against another edition
5.0
This is a great into to stats! Wheelan is clear without being dumb, and interesting without being eccentric. He covers not just the methods behind statistics, but also their intuitions, which helps to clarify some of the math used.
If you've already taken an stats course this will give you nothing new, but if you're at all interested in polling theory, standard deviation, margin of error, statistical significance, regression analysis, or research methodology, then this will meet your need to a high degree.
There's no clear flaw to this book. It undoubtedly benefited from a clear vision and a careful execution. You win bonus points if you have Will Bailey's voice in your head as you read, which is totally what I did for about half the book:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J48-3aDwhIc
If you've already taken an stats course this will give you nothing new, but if you're at all interested in polling theory, standard deviation, margin of error, statistical significance, regression analysis, or research methodology, then this will meet your need to a high degree.
There's no clear flaw to this book. It undoubtedly benefited from a clear vision and a careful execution. You win bonus points if you have Will Bailey's voice in your head as you read, which is totally what I did for about half the book:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J48-3aDwhIc
poachedeggs's review against another edition
4.0
I found Wheelan's little asides/ attempts at humour quite annoying at first but he seemed to lay off them in the second half of the book. The first half also read more like a GRE prep book, but I had to work harder in the second half to understand what he was explaining. I must admit I didn't tax my brain to the limit in order to grasp some of the more complex statistical concepts (intellectual laziness). But overall I still got a nice impressionistic (imprecise but hopefully not inaccurate) feel of where the minefields and goldmines in statistics lie.
evagro's review against another edition
4.0
It's time to discover my inner mathematician. So I read a book about statistics. My dad, my lifelong math tutor, would probably laugh his butt off. Yet, reading a narrative about mathematics actually kind of took the edge off. Who knew?
Read more: http://knowledgeiscool.blogspot.com/2014/01/book-review-naked-statistics.html
Read more: http://knowledgeiscool.blogspot.com/2014/01/book-review-naked-statistics.html
auntblh's review against another edition
3.0
2.5 stars - I both like and hate statistics so I thought this would be an interesting listen. It was for the most part. I did get a little lost towards the end when the topics turned to standard errors and regression analysis. I kept listening in hopes that something would sink in that might be helpful sometime in the future. It might have been better if I had been able to look at the PDF of the graphs while I was listening but since I mostly listened while driving to/from work, I wasn't able. I am more aware of what might go into a research study and how data might be used (either well or badly).
sarahk15's review against another edition
4.0
Even though it was a slow read, I can't deny the fact that I really gained valuable insight.
deejah_fig_and's review against another edition
3.0
This is not a topic I would willingly dive head first into, but I was intrigued as I listened to the author describe the book on NPR some months ago. Though this is a technical book about statistics, the author knew just when to lighten the text so as not to be obscure and potentially lose the reader. I stayed the course and learned some interesting facts (don't always look at those survey results with such a trusting eye) and I feel like I am better equipped to have a basic conversation regarding some basic theories associated with statistics.
wellington299's review against another edition
3.0
This a mostly enjoyable book about a dry subject: statistics.
I work with numbers for my day job and even I got bored a lot. Still many time he would make me laugh as he poked fun at himself .. and made me pause and think.
Closer to a 3.25 star book.