Discovering Statistics Using SPSS (Introducing Statistical Methods S.) (2nd Edition) 
asked by fusionz on November 6, 2006 3:22 PM
Get the Statistics Book That's Sweeping the Nation!
Appropriate for All Levels--Undergraduate to Doctorate Programs in Every Discipline!
This new edition of Field's bestselling textbook provides students of statistical methods with everything they need to understand, use and report statistics - at every level. Written in Andy Field's vivid and entertaining style, and furnished with playful examples from everyday student life (among other places), the book forms an accessible gateway into the often intimidating world of statistics and a unique opportunity for students to ground their knowledge of statistics through the use of SPSS. The text is fully compliant with the latest release of SPSS (version 13).
Key updates in Second Edition:
- More coverage with completely new material on non-parametric statistics, loglinear analysis, effect sizes and how to report statistical analysis
- Even more student-friendly features, including a glossary of key statistical terms and exercises at the end of chapters for students to work through, with datasets and answers to chapter exercises on the accompanying CD-ROM
- A larger and more easy-to-reference format: notation in each section identifies the intended level of study while the new 2-color text design enhances the features in the book and, together with the larger format, provides extra clarity throughout
Andy Field is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at The University of Sussex, U.K. where his success in making statistics accessible was recognized with a teaching award in 2001.
"The Second Edition of Andy Field's Discovering Statistics Using SPSS is an excellent book and a valuable addition to the teaching of statistics in the behavioral sciences. The title of the book accurately reflects the approach taken. This is not simply a primer on how to use SPSS, but is a very good statistics text using SPSS as a vehicle for illustrating and expanding on the statistical content of the book. At the same time it also serves as a manual for SPSS, and has taught me things that I had not known about the software. I find this flexible approach to the blending of content and software to be an effective way of teaching the material. It is impossible to review this book without commenting on Andy's particular style. I enjoyed it immensely and think that it would appeal to both students and their instructors. It is refreshing to see someone who doesn't take himself too seriously."
-- David C Howell, Professor Emeritus, University of Vermont
Appropriate for All Levels--Undergraduate to Doctorate Programs in Every Discipline!
This new edition of Field's bestselling textbook provides students of statistical methods with everything they need to understand, use and report statistics - at every level. Written in Andy Field's vivid and entertaining style, and furnished with playful examples from everyday student life (among other places), the book forms an accessible gateway into the often intimidating world of statistics and a unique opportunity for students to ground their knowledge of statistics through the use of SPSS. The text is fully compliant with the latest release of SPSS (version 13).
Key updates in Second Edition:
- More coverage with completely new material on non-parametric statistics, loglinear analysis, effect sizes and how to report statistical analysis
- Even more student-friendly features, including a glossary of key statistical terms and exercises at the end of chapters for students to work through, with datasets and answers to chapter exercises on the accompanying CD-ROM
- A larger and more easy-to-reference format: notation in each section identifies the intended level of study while the new 2-color text design enhances the features in the book and, together with the larger format, provides extra clarity throughout
- A companion website is available at www.sagepub.co.uk/field, containing resources for both students and instructors: a testbank of MCQs for students to test their own knowledge; online glossary in flash card format; multiple choice questions and answers to use for class assessment – available on restricted access basis to instructors via entry password; and PowerPoint Slides of all formatted artwork in the textbook for instructors to include in their own lecture slides.
Andy Field is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at The University of Sussex, U.K. where his success in making statistics accessible was recognized with a teaching award in 2001.
"The Second Edition of Andy Field's Discovering Statistics Using SPSS is an excellent book and a valuable addition to the teaching of statistics in the behavioral sciences. The title of the book accurately reflects the approach taken. This is not simply a primer on how to use SPSS, but is a very good statistics text using SPSS as a vehicle for illustrating and expanding on the statistical content of the book. At the same time it also serves as a manual for SPSS, and has taught me things that I had not known about the software. I find this flexible approach to the blending of content and software to be an effective way of teaching the material. It is impossible to review this book without commenting on Andy's particular style. I enjoyed it immensely and think that it would appeal to both students and their instructors. It is refreshing to see someone who doesn't take himself too seriously."
-- David C Howell, Professor Emeritus, University of Vermont
Reviews
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This book was really helpful getting through my grad school intro stats course!
reviewed by librarian on November 12, 2006 3:27 AM
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The title of this book does not reflect its nature; instead of an academic dry exercise book, the reader will find an easy, funny reading (with no lost in substance). Andy Field writes the book just as a good lecturer speaks in a class. He has a simple and special style.
The book helped me a lot in two complicated courses in my M.Sc. in Operations Research and Decisions: "Multi Variate Forecasting and Inference" and "Data Analysis in Marketing". The author presents excellent day-to-day weird examples to explain how to develop statistical analysis in SPSS. He explains meticulously a very wide range of statistical terms and links them to SPSS actions.
The content of the book is very organized: to those who want to read it from beginning to end as well as to those who only wish to consult it for specific subjects. The chapters are graded by difficulty degree and importance, and at the end of each chapter you will find a comprehensive review of the most important topics.
Very useful and well written book.
The book helped me a lot in two complicated courses in my M.Sc. in Operations Research and Decisions: "Multi Variate Forecasting and Inference" and "Data Analysis in Marketing". The author presents excellent day-to-day weird examples to explain how to develop statistical analysis in SPSS. He explains meticulously a very wide range of statistical terms and links them to SPSS actions.
The content of the book is very organized: to those who want to read it from beginning to end as well as to those who only wish to consult it for specific subjects. The chapters are graded by difficulty degree and importance, and at the end of each chapter you will find a comprehensive review of the most important topics.
Very useful and well written book.
reviewed by vladi on November 18, 2006 12:28 PM
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It is a excellent book to guide beginner who may conduct statistics methods and run SPSS. A usefull book to have it.
reviewed by nat on November 18, 2006 8:39 PM
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Statistics books are either too hard or way too basic for non-statisticians.
Statistic-Software books just tell you how to run tests, but they don't help you understand what you are doing.
Don't let the book's title fool you: this book is about statistics first. Only after you have the information about what you need to do, it tells about how to do it in SPSS. The explanations are awesome, and the style, although a little too informal at times, makes it easier to read than any other statistics book I've ever read.
I just missed a section on random factors for the general linear model.
Statistic-Software books just tell you how to run tests, but they don't help you understand what you are doing.
Don't let the book's title fool you: this book is about statistics first. Only after you have the information about what you need to do, it tells about how to do it in SPSS. The explanations are awesome, and the style, although a little too informal at times, makes it easier to read than any other statistics book I've ever read.
I just missed a section on random factors for the general linear model.
reviewed by glenn11 on November 28, 2006 6:36 PM
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I've read the other reviews and I generally agree: This is a well written stats book, especially if you are trying to learn the underlying theories rather than just randomly banging around on a keyboard. However, don't expect this book to be a particularly good choice if you need to do anything much more difficult than a one-way ANOVA. Even though this book is 770+ pages long, Field doesn't address realistic scenarios. For example, even though he devotes about 210 pages to all sorts of ANOVA, there is no mention of repeated measures ANCOVA, which is not that unusual. In some places, he seems to suggest that something is really difficult (e.g., contrasts in repeated measures ANOVA) and then offers only weak examples of what to do about it with no mention of how to report what you've done. In fact, he offers very few examples of how to report results, and in some cases, his running examples are nonsignificant so his reporting examples stop short. All together, this is a good stats theory book with an intro to SPSS, but it's not the kind of book that is going to get you through many real-world analyses. I would recommend this book to undergraduates and graduate students who feel they need some more background, but folks in the field are better off looking elsewhere.
reviewed by madfool on November 29, 2006 1:40 PM