Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 16-20 of 81
 great book March 19, 2009
Deepak Parakkal
This is an excellent book with a lot of humor, which makes reading statistics an enjoyment.Gives a lot of info for working on SPSS.
Superb textbook made even better February 13, 2009
zhuchok (Brooklyn, NY USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have looked at a number of alternatives and completely agree with an earlier reviewer: this is the best book on the subject. I relied on the second edition of this book to complete my doctoral dissertation. This wonderful book not only saved me thousands of dollars in statistical consultant's fees, but it also taught me a great deal about statistical analysis using SPSS. Even with my degree now completed, I am glad I invested in the 3rd edition of Field's textbook. The new edition's full-color pages, numerous updates and additions make learning statistics an activity one can enjoy.
Fun & Stats DO Mix - Unbelievable! February 1, 2009
Katherine A. Sainz
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I've taken a bazillion seminars / classes in stats/spss and never have I laughed out loud like this author inspires the reader to do. I'm having a ball reading and understanding this book - now I understand why my faculty mentor loves Andy Field as a writer/teacher. This is a MUST text on your shelf.
This is hands down the absolute best statistics textbook I have ever seen or read December 12, 2008
Grad Student (new york, ny)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I suffered through almost an entire semester before discovering Andy Field's textbook and accompanying web site, www.statisticshell.com. What I have found has not only made me enjoy learning about the subject, it makes me want to teach statistics one day - because he has shown me how it can be done so well!
Andy has a funny, engaging writing style that keeps you interested through the text. He breaks complex concepts down into easy, digestible chunks, and is more concerned with producing information in a format that students can use. Material is differentiated into easy, medium, and difficult levels - there is even a section of each chapter geared to students who are cramming desperately for a final. SPSS function and output is explained as well.
Also, his is the first statistics textbook I have ever seen that creates examples around the "beer goggles" effect (how people become more attractive the more alcohol you consume) or whether elves or reindeer are capable of discovering the better santa! The book is an educational as it is entertaining, and I wish I had not wasted any money on the "well-respected" stats text my prof told us all to buy. The concepts are the same no matter what text you use, but this one will explain them in an informative and engaging way. I would absolutely buy this book if you are at all discouraged or demoralized by statistics, as Andy Field's approach will completely turn it around - it did for me.
Bless you, Andy Field! August 14, 2008
Julesagogo (Michigan, USA)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This should be the first book you buy if you need help with stats and SPSS. When I first began doing empirical research I knew almost nothing about statistics or SPSS, and had to learn virtually everything I needed to know about complex multivariate tests on my own. I had suffered through many of the relevant, canonical books before I happened upon Field. It was a V-8 moment. Not only does the book explain everything in engaging, easy to understand, often hilarious terms (a favorite example is the caption of the photo of statistician Bonferroni: "Carlo Bonferroni before the celebrity of his correction lead to drink, drugs and statistics groupies"), but again and again it answered questions I had that other sources didn't address in a practical way. One example out of many is how to calculate and interpret effect sizes, which SPSS doesn't calculate for all multivariate tests, or calculates using a measure that has been widely criticized. Field describes the rationale behind several measures of effect size as well as formulas for calculating them, including clear indicators of where to find the data in SPSS output.
Other reviewers have commented that this book is light on theory. I don't know enough about statistical theory to know if this is a valid criticism. But, I do think the book provides ample and detailed "whys" behind the "hows" that I haven't found elsewhere and that were necessary to help me justify the tests I run and how I interpret them. The level of detail and abstraction, in my opinion, is completely appropriate for most researchers and students.
Showing reviews 16-20 of 81
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