Introductory Business Statistics

Reviewed by Naima Shifa, Associate Professor, DePauw University on 5/19/23

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

The book presents the right sequence of topics with a comprehensive description. It starts with the concept of descriptive statistics, then normal distribution, followed by t-distribution, and after that, estimation and hypothesis testing, and so on, which is helpful for beginners. The important concepts are highlighted in every chapter. It provides real-life examples which are important for developing quantitative reasoning skills and supporting general education. It would be helpful if there are practice problems and examples solving with R, the most popular statistical software. The index is also missing.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The authors did a great job. The solution and discussion look accurate and error-free.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

The topic, discussion and examples are relevant to the subject materials. The discussion is up to date; however, a detailed analysis using a spreadsheet is missing. The author could use statistical software for analysis, like SPSS, Stata, or R. It is an important part of teaching statistics to make familiar our students with the software.

Clarity rating: 4

The authors convey the basic concepts successfully in simple words, which is helpful for students for whom math is not their favorite subject. The discussions are easy to follow for any non-math/ statistics majors. The examples connected to the topic without boring jargon.

Consistency rating: 5

Consistency in the chapter sequence is easily noticeable. However, within each chapter, examples are consistent with the subject material. There is a clear connection between the topic and the example discussion.

Modularity rating: 5

Modularity is one of the strengths of the book. Each chapter serves as a module. Students and instructors do not need to back and forth to review or revise a particular topic. Also, the instructors easily use any chapter of the book for other statistics courses without following the entire book. Each chapter provides a complete introductory idea about the statistical concept for a beginner.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The book is well organized, and it actually follows the sequence of statistical concepts that instructors usually go along with. However, if there is more descriptive statistics in the initial chapter, that would be helpful. Also, as a statistics instructor, I would like to see and teach analysis using statistical software.

Interface rating: 4

There are no significant errors in inference issues. The figures, charts and tables are clear and helpful. The interactive spreadsheets help students get a clear idea about the topic. However, it makes the PDF version of the book less attractive.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

There are no grammatical errors or typos, which is a strength of the book. All the statistical concepts are expressed in a simple and eloquent way.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The authors are genuinely respectful of racial and ethnic diversity. There is NO gendered or discriminatory expression in the book. Students and instructors from any background find the book inclusive and encompassing.

Comments

This textbook could provide beginners with a better understanding of business statistics. It could easily be used as a supplement for other stats courses, or it could be used as a module for any project where statistics concepts are needed.

Reviewed by Jiaxiu He, Assistant Professor, University of Texas at Arlington on 11/23/22

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

It covers the several fundamental topics of statistics. Each topic is discussed in a concise manner. This textbook focuses more on how to teach students to choose the right method in various situations. I think this serves the need of the contemporary students. One downside is that not enough examples are provided.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The content is accurate.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The examples are contemporary and I don't think they would become obsolete soon.

Clarity rating: 5

The text is comprehensible. Technical staffs are introduced using plain English so it is not overwhelming for students who are new to statistics. The author's 30-year experience really paid off.

Consistency rating: 5

The terminology and framework are consistent throughout the entire book.

Modularity rating: 5

Topics are well divided into chapters and sections. The instructor has much flexibility to elaborate on blocks deemed necessary and/or based on students progress.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The topics are presented in a nice and logic flow. It starts with the most basic descriptive statistics and two very commonly used distributions, followed by two types of inferences, estimation and hypothesis testing. It concludes with regression analysis.

Interface rating: 3

There are some issues. The table of contents does not navigate to the actual sections. The font of numeric values and mathematical expressions are not uniform. The text in some figures are distorted.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

No apparent grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The text is inclusive and not offensive.

Reviewed by Sang-Phil Kim, Assistant Professor, Winona State University on 8/2/18

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

The text covers almost all the first introductory business statistics topics. While I agree with the other reviewer, in that the text is not comprehensive in Statistics in general, it would be good enough for the first semester of business statistics. I would like to add a chapter on Probability, though.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

I don't see anything incorrect. Content is accurate, error-free and unbiased.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

Statistics, especially the introductory level statistics, is not the topic with rapid changes. I don't find anything out-of-date. The necessary updates will be minor or none and easy to implement.

Clarity rating: 5

One of the strengths of this text is the comprehensible writing. It explains difficult concepts in easy language. And the author brings real-world examples whenever necessary.

Consistency rating: 5

Each chapter is consistent in format, structure as well as terminology.

Modularity rating: 5

The text has well-divided chapters so that an instructor can change the order of chapters or omit some chapter, without any problem.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The flow

Interface rating: 3

While it doesn't have a serious interface issue, there are some minor problems. All the formula/equations are inserted as pictures and the resolution is a little disappointing. And the tables are also not in great shape. It is natural that there are many x-bars in any Statistics. But, the bar above x in this text floats too much.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

No grammatical error.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The textbook is not culturally insensitive. All the examples are inclusive.

Comments

The text is concise but comprehensive. A short textbook but the concepts are well explained in plain English. It can be a great supplementary material. It seems the author knows how to present the concepts to students pretty well. I appreciate that I have a chance to review this textbook before I design my Statistics course. If this text can be combined with a plenty of exercise problems, it would be a great standalone textbook.

Reviewed by Deb Merrigan, Instructor, Century College on 4/11/17

Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less

This textbook does contain a table of contents, but no index or glossary. Unfortunately, it does not cover all areas of statistics. It is designed "to help students understand how statistics works, not just how to "get the right number". In doing so, this book provides very good real-world examples of how statistics are applied.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The author brings over 30 years of experience teaching statistics. The content appears to be accurate, error-free and unbiased.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

Even though this textbook was written in 2010, the content is and should continue to be relevant. I don't anticipate the terminology for statistics to change much. Also, examples used throughout this book are generic enough that different demographic groups reviewing this material will find it easy to understand. For instance, one example of a sample population the text uses includes athletes (basketball, volleyball) and sock sizes used. Easy to comprehend. The examples are not dated.
If there ever were a need to update the material, it would be pretty straightforward to do so.

Clarity rating: 5

The text is written as though the author is having a direct conversation with you in one of his intro to statistics courses. There is a comfortable, natural flow to it. The author knowingly anticipates when clarification is needed and provides greater detail and additional examples that are easy for the reader to comprehend.

Consistency rating: 5

Each chapter in the text is consistent in it's framework and terminology. Terminology is identified in bold lettering followed by their corresponding definitions. Topic headings within each chapter are shaded blue for easy identification.
At the beginning of the textbook, the author introduces the reader to a fictitious manufacturing company, Foothill Mills. Throughout the book, a couple of managers and their boss solve real-world business problems using statistics. It makes the material believable, easier, and consistent to follow when the same characters are used throughout the book.

Modularity rating: 5

The author's intention is to be able to use the chapters in this textbook in no particular order. Therefore, instructors will have an opportunity to realign chapters to fit their lesson plans. Subheadings are provided and shaded in blue for the reader to easily identify. I did not find enormous blocks of text without subheadings, making it easier to read.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Topics are presented in a logical, clear manner. Concepts of descriptive statistics, for example, are covered at the beginning of the book, before inferential statistics. It allows the reader to reach an understanding of how raw data is collected and utilized before turning it into information. Information gathered can then be used to form an opinion, or infer, about a population. Topics continue to flow smoothly as the reader moves through the book. By the end of the book, many of the topics are tied together, building on the reader's comprehension of the material.

Interface rating: 2

I did find several interface issues. Several of the formulas, spreadsheets, and tables are split between two pages. It makes it more difficult for the reader to comprehend. It would have been more appropriate to display each of these features on the same page.
I also found sentences, multiple times, at the bottom of a page that ask the reader to "see below". In actuality, the reader must turn the page to "see below" a formula, spreadsheet, etc... This is somewhat confusing and distracting at times, having to flip back and forth between two pages.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

I did not find any grammatical errors. Spelling, capitalization, punctuation and symbols were properly used.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The examples used throughout the textbook are inclusive. I did not find the book to be insensitive or offensive in any way.

Comments

I appreciated the manner in which the author wrote. I felt like he was talking directly to me, using general terms and examples I could relate to. He definitely considered the needs of his audience when presenting this material. I would use this textbook as a supplement to a current textbook I use. There are plenty of great examples, explanations, and definitions to terminology that would be helpful for my students to gain a better understanding of statistics.