Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This book shows how statistical thinking works and how it's benefiting our lives. It's an easy-read book without a lot of jargon or, surprisingly, numbers. I found the book to be engaging - through the use of stories - and helpful in understanding something that otherwise could be quite dull.
"Statistical thinking is distinct from everyday thinking. It is a skill that is learned. ... many applied scientists routinely use statistical thinking on the job," the author says. Statistical thinking is also often counter-intuitive. And this was my biggest take-away from this interesting book.
Using the premise that we can learn statistical thinking and that we can apply it in everyday situations, Fung provides 10 stories to teach 5 big principles of statistical thinking:
1. Variability over Averages: Statistical average isn't the key, deviation from the average is.
2. Correlation over Cause and Effect: Cause and effect might provide rational explanation, but unexplained correlation is also useful and quicker to find.
3. Group differences over Group averages: Differences within groups are hidden by averaging groups together.
4. Errors are both positive and negative: Minimizing mistakes creates mistakes of a different kind.
5. The Impossible really is Impossible: Don't believe what is too rare to be true.
The stories are applications of these principles in things we're all interested in. Like, the shortest waiting time at Disneyland, finding the source of a deadly E. coli outbreak, financial credit scores, highway traffic meters, steroid testing in Major League Baseball, SAT test writers, lie-detector tests, uncovering a lottery scam, and the safety record of airlines.
If you liked Gladwell's The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, you'll most likely appreciate this book too.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Numbers Rule Your World: The Hidden Influence of Probabilities and Statistics on Everything You Do
WHAT ARE THE ODDS YOU'LL WIN THE LOTTERY?
How long will your kids wait in line at Disney World?
Who decides that "standardized tests" are fair?
Why do highway engineers build slow-moving ramps?
What does it mean, statistically, to be an "Average Joe"?
NUMBERS RULE YOUR WORLDIn the popular tradition of eye-opening bestsellers like Freakonomics, The Tipping Point, and Super Crunchers, this fascinating book from renowned statistician and blogger Kaiser Fung takes you inside the hidden world of facts and figures that affect you every day, in every way.
These are the statistics that rule your life, your job, your commute, your vacation, your food, your health, your money, and your success. This is how engineers calculate your quality of living, how corporations determine your needs, and how politicians estimate your opinions. These are the numbers you never think about-even though they play a crucial role in every single aspect of your life.
What you learn may surprise you, amuse you, or even enrage you. But there's one thing you won't be able to deny: Numbers Rule Your World…
"An easy read with a big benefit."—Fareed Zakaria, CNN
"For those who have anxiety about how organization data-mining is impacting their world,Kaiser Fung pulls back the curtain to reveal the good and the bad of predictive analytics."—Ian Ayres,Yale professor and author of Super Crunchers:Why Thinking By Numbers is the New Way to Be Smart
"A book that engages us with stories that a journalist would write, the compelling stories behind the stories as illuminated by the numbers, and the dynamics that the numbers reveal."—John Sall, Executive Vice President, SAS Institute
"Little did I suspect, when I picked up Kaiser Fung's book, that I would become so entranced by it - an illuminating and accessible exploration of the power of statistical analysis for those of us who have no prior training in a field that he explores so ably."—Peter Clarke, author of Keynes: The Rise, Fall, and Return of the 20th Century's Most Influential Economist
"A tremendous book. . . . If you want to understand how to use statistics, how to think with numbers and yet to do this without getting lost in equations, if you've been looking for the book to unlock the door to logical thinking about problems, well, you will be pleased to know that you are holding that book in your hands."—Daniel Finkelstein, Executive Editor, The Times of London
"I thoroughly enjoyed this accessible book and enthusiastically recommendit to anyone looking to understand and appreciate the role of statistics and dataanalysis in solving problems and in creating a better world." —Michael Sherman, Texas A&M University, American Statistician
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