Discovering Statistics Using IBM SPSS Statistics: North American Edition

As a PhD scientist (non-experimentalist) who uses more of the behaviorally-oriented statistical tools, I find this welcome relief. I want easy access to comparing methods and comfort in knowing that the statistics I use makes sense. Field has managed to address applicability and "traps" in using statistics. I want to be able to use methods wisely and he keeps me there (I think). His writing style is engaging and amusing and keeps my attention. While I am not averse to theoretical explanations, I can always look them up when I want more understanding of the underlying prionciples, but now I would rather have something that helps me choose approaches that fit the problem I have. His peripheral comments are mostly very germane to the method and go far in helping you understand the pros and cons of a method.I started first from using the Excel data analysis options, but you really need to know than how to use it. I want to make sure the method is applicable and Field puts methods in a good context. I still can talk to a statistics expert, but it's good to have some of those points covered.A fun purchase and I'm really enjoying cleaning up some ideas in statistics. I can recommend this most people with college level awareness and decent math skills. Thank you Andy for helping me up m game!

Never thought I'd be saying this about a statistics textbook. The author is so funny that it actually makes learning statistics FUN. The companion website is great too, you can check your answers there.

This is such a great book! I had to but it for class and this is the first time I actually enjoyed reading a mandatory text. Andy is hilarious, wildly entertaining and a great storyteller. He was able to make a dull frustrating subject like math come alive and actually make sense. I got a B in my class and I would have 100% gotten a D or F if I would have read a "normal" boring textbook.

It’s a stats book. Not super interesting, but the author tries to make it different and adds jokes. Required for one of my classes and it does have good info in it.

Field provides a very straightforward approach to teaching statistics in this book. I'm getting my PhD and my dissertation is a quantitative study and I decided to use SPSS to analyze the data. Field breaks down how to use SPSS for every statistical method I am planning on using in a step-by-step manner. This book is filled with many examples to help you understand each new concept. My only minor grip is in many of his examples, he labels one of the dichotomous variables as "sex" when it should clearly be "gender" as the only choices are "male" and "female", not "yes" or "no" (or how often which would make it an interval variable).

I can use it to build muscles, but instead I get statistical knowledge with a big effect size. Got it for a class and will keep it! Funny and packed examples that make specific statistical accessible.

The general quality of the book structure (not even the content- I'll get to that) is terrible! The cover and pages are flimsy (I've ripped several pages just turning them) and there is some glossy coating on the pages that ensures reflections will appear on whatever area of the text is most difficult to understand. Did I mention flimsy? Do you remember the part in Men in Black where Will Smith was taking the exam will all the military guys and the tests were too flimsy and unshapely to be of any use? Those test designers also helped with this book.The internal layout is terrible. Three columns per page? Six per spread? "Bolded" words that are actually light blue??? This book is NOT skimmable to go back and find information.Then there are the errors: parts where the glossary does not point one to the right page (even after SEARCHING through the hard-to-read text), and directions that do not match the online data and content in the Smart Alex Tasks.Then there is the content. Okay. He's got a dorky personality that he thinks is cool. Fine. But don't ramble. And for the love of all things, don't make jokes that people can only understand if they already understand your content. The book is there to teach, not trade witty remarks with other professors. Overall, I wanted to love this book but instead found the quality of the physical book, the rambling, the jokes, the errors, and the incongruous nature of the presentation to create more frustration than understanding.

Good book! For learning statistics, required textbook for doctoral student in education in some school. But the book makes really fun and enjoyable for learning non-statistic major doctoral student. Need read it with author’s lectures and school’s lectures same time do a lot of practices in SPSS. This way would help to understand author’s chapters. Again, this book, author and my statistic professor made me love statistics. I own digital and book.