Introductory Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences by R. K. Young; D. J. VeldmanReview by: R. K. SomInternational Statistical Review / Revue Internationale de Statistique, Vol. 46, No. 3 (Dec.,1978), p. 323Published by: International Statistical Institute (ISI)Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1402391 .

Accessed: 12/06/2014 21:14

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

.

International Statistical Institute (ISI) is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access toInternational Statistical Review / Revue Internationale de Statistique.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 91.229.229.212 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 21:14:44 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

323

volumes contain a survey by the editors, C.P. Tsokos and I.N. Shimi, entitled 'The Bayesian and Nonparametric Approach to Reliability Studies: A Survey of Recent Work'.

Bucharest T. Postelnicu

Ronald E. Walpole. Elementary Statistical Concepts. Macmillan, New York, 1976, pp. vii+231.

The primary objective of the book was 'to introduce some basic statistical concepts that can easily be under- stood by college freshmen and senior high school students of limited mathematical ability. To achieve this elmentary level of presentation, it was necessary to minimize the use of mathematical formulas and statistical symbols. Consequently, illustrative examples have been substituted for mathematical proofs.' To a very large extent the author has achieved his objectives.

It comprises the following chapters: Introduction; Statistical Measures of Data (including Chebyshev's Theorem); Statistical Description of Data; Probability; Random Variables; Special Probability Distributions (normal and binomial); Sampling Distributions (of .c and t); Estimation of Parameters; Tests of Hypothesis; Inferences Concerning Two Populations; Correlation and Prediction; and Chi-Square Tests. The appendices include references, statistical tables, and answers to exercises.

The writing is clear and another good feature of the book is that problems of inference have been introduced at an early stage. My one query is why, in conformity with the definition of the unbiased estimator s2 of U2, the divisor (n- 1) was not used in estimating the variance of the estimated binomial proportion.

New York R.K. Som

R.K. Young and D.J. Veldman. Introductory Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences. 3rd edition. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York, 1976, pp. xii + 594.

The book is aimed at students in the social sciences and related areas who have a limited background in mathematics. When first published in 1965, 'the most obvious innovation (was) the use of programmed learning technique to present a considerable amount of drill material'. That must have served a very useful purpose over the years.

Text chapters include measures of central tendency and of variability, standard scores, elementary probability, normal distribution, t and Fdistributions, analysis of variance (single and double classifications), chi-square, and bivariate linear correlation. There are two excellent chapters at the end: one deals with the problem of selecting the right inferential method (however, the computed chi-square on page 454 for the data of Table 17-2 should be 2.64, rather than 3.45) and the other is on recent trends in statistics - non-parametric tests (Mann-Whitney U test and Friedman's two-way analysis of variance by ranks), Bayesian inference, and the possible impact of calculator and computer technology on the teaching of statistics. The required mathematical and statistical tables are given as appendices. There is a glossary of symbols and an Index, where one notes 'Statisticians (see Liars)' and 'Liars (see Statisticians)', a sentiment that, happily, is not reflected in the text.

There is a minimum of algebra and no calculus. The book is clearly written in a welcome light-hearted vein but is adequately rigorous.

A general observation: one misses the transition of an inference relating to the universe mean to one relating to the universe total. This lack, although common to most introductory texts, is nevertheless to be regretted, as interest often centres on estimating the total rather than the mean. Take, for example, the data on annual incomes of a sample of 48 residents in a middle-class suburb (pages 97-98 and Table 5-1). A reader who has gone through the text would be able to compute the (sample) mean and to use it as an estimate of the mean income of all the residents in the suburb and also to provide the 95 per cent (or other) confidence limits to this estimate: but he would not know how to estimate the total income of all the residents and to provide confidence limits to that, although the derivation of the latter set from the former set is straightforward (requiring only the additional information on the total number of residents), given the conditions of simple random sampling implicit in such texts. We, hopefully, await the day when authors of introductory (and even elementary) texts would help readers take this simple leap.

New York R.K. Som

UN Statistical Office: Publications recently issued

Demographic Yearbook, 1976, Bilingual (English/French). Statistical Papers, Series R, No. 5, pp. 984. UN Sales No. E/F.77.XIII.1. Clothbound, $US 42.00; paperbound, SUS 34.00 (or equivalent in other currencies).

Twenty-eighth issue of a comprehensive compilation of international demographic statistics, including for over 220 countries or areas of the world available data on population size, natality, mortality, nuptiality and divorce.

This content downloaded from 91.229.229.212 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 21:14:44 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions