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Principles of Statistics |  | Author: M.G. Bulmer
Publisher: Dover Publications
List Price: $14.95
Buy New: $7.80
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Seller: backpack_books
Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 122800
Media: Paperback
Pages: 252
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.6 x 0.6
ISBN: 0486637603
Dewey Decimal Number: 519.5
EAN: 9780486637600
ASIN: 0486637603
Publication Date: March 1, 1979
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
The best intermediate-level explanation of classical statistics on the market! From basic dice probabilities to modern regression analysis and correlation, Professor Bulmer provides explanations, graphs, charts, problems (with answers). Equal stress is given to theory and applications. The author assumes no previous knowledge of statistics or probability; only basic calculus is needed. Ideal college-level or supplementary text.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 16
 Not much of a help September 12, 2009
A. Garcia (Connecticut)
I started reading this book and the first parts made sense, then I got lost. It might be a good book for a refresher or a review, or maybe I am just a visual learner.
 for researchers and the statistically curious April 7, 2009
Richard Almasi (Europa)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book on mathematical statistics is a book for people who want to understand the underlying structure of statistics.
Most of us when studying statistics only learn to memorize formulas, and not why we use those formulas in the first place, we are taught to simply accept them.
This little book will teach you why we use these formulas, and gives you an intimate view of how they work.
As a researcher-to-be I found this book invaluable, it took my understanding of statistics to a whole new level.
A pre-requisite for this book is first-level calculus.
You have to know what differentials and integrals are and how to calculate them.
No prior knwoledge of statistics and probability is required, that's what this book seeks to explain.
But this book is more than just a book on mathematics, throughout the book Bulmer also discusses the people behind the ideas, for example: J.S. Mill, G. Mendel, B.Russell etc.
If you have read books like Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk and know some calculus, then this a interesting book to continue with.
There is more text in this book than formulae, as Bulmer wants to explain what goes on in words and uses formulaic proof to illustrate it.
The language used is nontechnical and non-academic, "normal" people will understand it, Bulmer is not out to prove how much jargon he knows.
Each chapter features two sets of excercises; one "easy" and and one technical. Typical exercises are: proving something (writing a proof) and doing actual calculations from given data.
You can do all calculations on a calculator, no computer is needed.
This book is not as extensive as Freund's John E. Freund's Mathematical Statistics (6th Edition), but it is alot more accessible and covers the most important parts.
Myself I'm a business & economics student, and I found Bulmer's book easy to understand in comparison to Freund's.
The content of the book is:
1. The two concepts of probability
2. The two laws of probability
3. Random variables and probability distributions
4. Descriptive properties of distributions
5. Expected values
6. The binomial, Poisson, and exponential distributions
7. The normal distribution
8. The X^2, t and F distributions
9. Tests of significance
10. Point estimation
11. Regression and correlation
I do have one word of caution though, I only studied applied mathematics before my first attempt with this book - things like mathematical economics and financial math - which turned out to be a very poor preparation for this book.
You definitely have a disadvantage if you come from an applied field and have not studied "pure" calculus where proofs and scientific formulation have an obvious important role.
So I had to study some proper calculus before I could start with this book, two good books I used were Zakon's 'Basic Math Concepts' and 'Analysis 1' book, which are available to download for free from the publisher's ('The Trillia Group') website.
A gem April 2, 2009
S. Keshav (Waterloo, ON, Canada)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Bulmer's book is deceptively simple. You start reading it thinking that it belabours the obvious. But as concept after concept sinks in, you realize that you are in the presence of a true master of the field. Every word in every sentence is there for a reason, and with care, the book becomes an amazing guide to mathematical statistics, presenting the heart of each issue without unnecessary fuss and with great elegance.
I have read the book from cover to cover three times, and each time I dip into the book I learn something new. Compared to the heavy tome by Snedecor or the procedural texts intended for social science majors, this is a breath of fresh air.
But beware: you have to read this book with care. Don't skip anything. Convince yourself you understand each sentence before you move on! Otherwise you will surely get lost.
 handy reference book December 12, 2008
Michael R. Chernick (Holland PA)
This is a handy reference book on statistics that is certainly within everyone's price range. I have a copy that I look at from time to time. But I can't say that it is up to the standards of most of the introductory statistics books that I own. But it is convenient and easy to use.
Excellent Intro to Mathematical Statistics. May 16, 2008
Kyriakos Tsiappoutas (USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This must be one of the most lucid and inexpensive intro to mathematical statistics. Clear, to-the-point, concise, with the right amount of theory and practice examples.
Bulmer has the ability to make statistics come alive. You will feel like you are getting the information right from the source. Famous names like Fisher, Bayes, and A. Student just come up naturally, as if they were narrating their own stories.
I used this book as an introduction to Steven Kay's two-volume Fundamentals of Statistical Processing I & II. Even though it was published in 1967, this book is so mainstream it is as useful today as the day it was published. It is truly a classic.
ANOVA and Correlation are not covered thoroughly. But still, what is covered is covered well. You will need some working knowledge of integral calculus. Don't let that scare you. Bulmer uses excellent judgment when it comes to how and where to apply calculus. When it's used, it really makes the whole concept clearer.
This is neither a book for social scientists who want to know how to interpret ANOVA outputs from some statistical software, nor is it a book for the theoretical mathematician. This book rather gives a very solid background for the applied scientist, no matter if s/he works with medical or seismic data.
Oh, and you will (finally!) learn why the sample variance formula involves n-1 at its denominator by examining empirical data gathered and analyzed by Student from his original papers (1908)!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 16
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