Kindle Price:	$23.49
	Price includes tax, if applicable
Sold by:	Amazon Australia Services, Inc.

promotions apply when you purchase

Add Audible Narration to your purchase for just $3.99

Read with our free app

You've subscribed to ! We will pre-order your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.

Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your memberships & subscriptions

There was an error! We were unable to process your subscription due to an error. Please refresh and try again.

Follow the author

Charles J. Wheelan

Follow

Naked Statistics: Stripping the Dread from the Data 1st Edition, Kindle Edition

by Charles Wheelan (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

3,465

Part of: Naked Series (3 books)

See all formats and editions

A New York Times bestseller

"Brilliant, funny…the best math teacher you never had." —San Francisco Chronicle

Once considered tedious, the field of statistics is rapidly evolving into a discipline Hal Varian, chief economist at Google, has actually called "sexy." From batting averages and political polls to game shows and medical research, the real-world application of statistics continues to grow by leaps and bounds. How can we catch schools that cheat on standardized tests? How does Netflix know which movies you’ll like? What is causing the rising incidence of autism? As best-selling author Charles Wheelan shows us in Naked Statistics, the right data and a few well-chosen statistical tools can help us answer these questions and more.

For those who slept through Stats 101, this book is a lifesaver. Wheelan strips away the arcane and technical details and focuses on the underlying intuition that drives statistical analysis. He clarifies key concepts such as inference, correlation, and regression analysis, reveals how biased or careless parties can manipulate or misrepresent data, and shows us how brilliant and creative researchers are exploiting the valuable data from natural experiments to tackle thorny questions.

And in Wheelan’s trademark style, there’s not a dull page in sight. You’ll encounter clever Schlitz Beer marketers leveraging basic probability, an International Sausage Festival illuminating the tenets of the central limit theorem, and a head-scratching choice from the famous game show Let’s Make a Deal—and you’ll come away with insights each time. With the wit, accessibility, and sheer fun that turned Naked Economics into a bestseller, Wheelan defies the odds yet again by bringing another essential, formerly unglamorous discipline to life.

ISBN-10

9780393347777
Edition

1st
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publisher

W. W. Norton & Company
Publication date

7 January 2013
Part of series

Naked Series
Language

English
File size

2510 KB
See all details

Report an issue with this product

See all supported devices

Next 2 for you in this series See full series

Total price: $45.48 + applicable tax

By clicking on the buy button, your order will be finalised and you agree to the Kindle store terms of use.

Sold by: Amazon Australia Services, Inc.

All 3 for you in this series See full series

See included books

Total price: $65.47 + applicable tax

Sold by: Amazon Australia Services, Inc.

David Spiegelhalter
3,519
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $15.99
Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic
4,529
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $41.62
Peter Bruce
974
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $51.99
Foster Provost
1,321
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $28.99
Thomas Nield
230
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $51.99
Andrew Wolf
96
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $8.44

Popular Highlights in this book

What are popular highlights?

Descriptive statistics exist to simplify, which always implies some loss of nuance or detail.
Highlighted by 4,278 Kindle readers
For distributions without serious outliers, the median and the mean will be similar.
Highlighted by 3,347 Kindle readers
Correlation measures the degree to which two phenomena are related to one another.
Highlighted by 3,242 Kindle readers

Product description

Review

"Two phrases you don’t often see together: ‘statistics primer’ and ‘rollicking good time.’ Until Charlie Wheelan got to it, that is. This book explains the way statistical ideas can help you understand much of everyday life." -- Austan Goolsbee, professor of economics at the University of Chicago and former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers

"While a great measure of the book’s appeal comes from Mr. Wheelan’s fluent style―a natural comedian, he is truly the Dave Barry of the coin toss set―the rest comes from his multiple real world examples illustrating exactly why even the most reluctant mathophobe is well advised to achieve a personal understanding of the statistical underpinnings of life." -- New York Times

"A fun, engaging book that shows why statistics is a vital tool for anyone who wants to understand the modern world." -- Jacob J. Goldstein, "Planet Money" on NPR

"The best math teacher you never had. [Naked Statistics] is filled with practical lessons, like how to judge the validity of polls, why you should never buy a lottery ticket, and how to keep an eye out for red flags in public statements." -- San Francisco Chronicle

"Are you one of those who dread statistics? Fear no more. Charles Wheelan’s Naked Statistics explains the intuition behind the various statistical concepts we use in an easy and accessible way." -- Raghuram Rajan, author of Fault Lines: How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World Economy

"Naked Statistics is an apt title. Charles Wheelan strips away the superfluous outer garments and exposes the underlying beauty of the subject in a way that everyone can appreciate." -- Hal Varian, chief economist at Google

"I cannot stress enough the importance of Americans’ need to understand statistics―the basis for a great deal of what we hear and read these days―and I cannot stress enough the value of Wheelan’s book in giving readers an approachable avenue to understanding statistics. Almost anyone interested in sports, politics, business, and the myriad of other areas in which statistics rule the roost today will benefit from this highly readable, on-target, and important book." -- Frank Newport, Gallup editor-in-chief

About the Author

Charles Wheelan is the author of the best-selling Naked Statistics and Naked Economics and is a former correspondent for the Economist. He teaches public policy at Dartmouth College and lives in Hanover, New Hampshire, with his family.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B007Q6XLF2
Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company; 1st edition (7 January 2013)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 2510 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 300 pages

Best Sellers Rank: 102,174 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- 15 in Economic Statistics
- 20 in Statistics Textbooks
- 27 in Social Statistics

Customer Reviews:
3,465

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Charles J. Wheelan

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Former correspondent for The Economist, current columnist for Yahoo!, and professor at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago, Charles Wheelan lives in Chicago with his family.

Review this product

Write a customer review

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from Australia

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Paul Stathers

Well written generalist stats book

Reviewed in Australia on 13 January 2023

Verified Purchase

A good an entertaining read with good coverage of statistical tools, methodologies and real world applications. A worthwhile read. Recommended.

Reviewed in Australia on 24 October 2021

Verified Purchase

Loved every moment of this book. Made the topic of stats easy to understand while being funny

Helpful

Amazon Customer

A stats book with great examples

Reviewed in Australia on 7 March 2022

This is a great book that describes foundmental concepts of statistics with easy to understand examples. In my opinion though some of the examples could have been described more briefly.

Reviewed in Australia on 7 July 2016

Verified Purchase

Great book that makes statistics both interesting and accessible. Not only does this book lay out the basics of statistical analysis it also managed to make me laugh.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Steve P

Ok but needed to be more visual

Reviewed in Australia on 4 August 2018

Verified Purchase

This book was ok. I did learn quite a few things. But the humour was a bit cheesy and I'm not entirely convinced that someone who has never done statistics would understand it all. There are quite a few terms I came across that I think should be have been explained. I guess it depends on the audience this book was aimed at. There was a surprisingly high percentage of words compared to diagrams and illustrations. I thought that a more visual approach would have been helpful for a lot of the material. Wheelan does have quite a good capacity to explain things using words, though. I wouldn't say the book was riveting but was better than some of the books I've looked at on statistics. I'm no expert on statistics so can't say how accurate it all was. So I'll leave that to others.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Joanne Kelly

For American college boys

Reviewed in Australia on 15 February 2022

The author absolutely blows what could have been a great teaching book by incessantly using examples from American baseball & football. Please - what century is this? There are actually women studying stats, and there are people who’ve no idea about either sports!!

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English

Marcelo Buratto

Excelent Book!

Reviewed in Brazil on 23 December 2023

Verified Purchase

This book is a pleasant way to understand more about the subject. For the begginer, it is a great introduction.

SaML

Divertido, fácil de entender

Reviewed in Mexico on 15 October 2023

Verified Purchase

Es bastante divertido, explica de manera sencilla algunos conceptos que en clase podrían verse enredados o contraintuitivos, seguro una risa te saca

Translate review to English

nitin bansal

Must read for everyone

Reviewed in India on 18 January 2024

Verified Purchase

Easy and lucid style of writing with great examples

Cliente Kindle

Naked Statistics: Stripping the Dread from the Data

Reviewed in Germany on 10 December 2023

Verified Purchase

"Naked Statistics: Stripping the Dread from the Data" is a book written by Charles Wheelan. It's designed to make the subject of statistics accessible, interesting, and less intimidating to people who may not have a strong background in mathematics or statistics. Here's an overview of what the book covers:
Wheelan introduces the basic concepts of statistics in a clear, easy-to-understand manner. He focuses on making the subject approachable and relevant, using real-life examples and humor.
The book explains how statistics are used in various aspects of daily life, from sports and politics to weather forecasts and medical studies. This approach helps to demystify statistics and show its practical value.
Topics such as correlation vs. causation, the importance of sample size, regression analysis, and probability are explained in a non-technical language. While the book is accessible to beginners, it also delves into more complex statistical concepts, making it useful for those who have some background in the subject but wish to deepen their understanding.
"Naked Statistics" is often recommended for students, professionals, or anyone who wants to understand the basics of statistics without getting bogged down in complex formulas and technical jargon. It's praised for its ability to make a challenging subject both understandable and entertaining.

H.P.J.M.

Clear and interesting look at statistics and probability

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 August 2023

Verified Purchase

Charles Wheelan has done a great job here.

There are so many dull statistics resources out there that start with a formula, use a cliched example, and don't explain the intuition behind the principles or how they inter-relate or relate to the real world.

This book is the polar opposite. Wheelan explains a problem or a phenomenon, normally an interesting one that isn't contrived, and then shows how stats and probability can help us understand it.

Some of the issues discussed are:
- Using standard error and confidence intervals to explain why political polls can be highly accurate
- Using regression analysis to explain why some UK civil servants might be at risk of health problems
- How Netflix and Target use statistical inferences for recommending stuff

On top of that there are some brain teasers in here (like the Monty Hall problem) and nuanced discussions of how some people misuse statistics (even unintentionally) leading to bad results.

This book connected a lot of dots for me because it brings together the concepts in a very integrated way.

The writing is extremely clear, and often funny and self-deprecating. It gets at the intuition behind the big ideas and how they link up. The math is not ignored but not overcomplicated either. You get to see the "big picture".

Some people say that the book is quite US centric; that's undeniable. I too am not a huge fan of US sports anecdotes in books because as a Brit I can barely relate. However I found that this did not impede my understanding.

One minor issue I had with the book was that the square root symbols were all messed up (there were just lots of floating dots over the numbers, maybe a printing issue).

To sum up, I would highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to understand the fundamentals of stats and probability in a highly entertaining and practical way. I will be re-reading this one.

Image Unavailable

Follow the author

Naked Statistics: Stripping the Dread from the Data 1st Edition, Kindle Edition

Customers who read this book also read

Product description

Review

About the Author

Product details

About the author

Charles J. Wheelan

Customer reviews

Review this product

Top reviews from Australia

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries