Statistics: A Gentle Introduction

The Fourth Edition of Statistics: A Gentle Introduction shows students that an introductory statistics class doesn't need to be difficult or dull. This text minimizes students' anxieties about math by explaining the concepts of statistics in plain language first, before addressing the math. Each formula within the text has a step-by-step example to demonstrate the calculation so students can follow along. Only those formulas that are important for final calculations are included in the text so students can focus on the concepts, not the numbers. A wealth of real-world examples and applications gives a context for statistics in the real world and how it helps us solve problems and make informed choices.

New to the Fourth Edition are sections on working with big data, new coverage of alternative non-parametric tests, beta coefficients, and the "nocebo effect," discussions of p values in the context of research, an expanded discussion of confidence intervals, and more exercises and homework options under the new feature "Test Yourself."

Frederick L. Coolidge (Ph.D.) received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. in Psychology at the University of Florida. He completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in clinical neuropsychology at Shands Teaching Hospital in Gainesville, Florida. He has been awarded three Fulbright Fellowships to India (1987, 1992, and 2005). He has also won three teaching awards at the University of Colorado (1984, 1987, and 1992), including the lifetime title of University of Colorado Presidential Teaching Scholar. In 2005, he received the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences' Outstanding Research and Creative Works award. Dr. Coolidge conducts research in behavioral genetics and has established the strong heritability of gender identity and gender identity disorder. He also conducts research in lifespan personality assessment and has established the reliability of posthumous personality evaluations, and also applies cognitive models of thinking and language to explain evolutionary changes in the archaeological record.