Page 7 - Applied Statistics And Probability For Engineers

PREFACE vii

Each chapter has an extensive collection of exercises, including end-of-section exercises
that emphasize the material in that section, supplemental exercises at the end of the chapter
that cover the scope of chapter topics, and mind-expanding exercises that often require the
student to extend the text material somewhat or to apply it in a novel situation. As noted
above, answers are provided to most odd-numbered exercises and the e-Text contains com-
plete solutions to selected exercises.

USING THE BOOK

This is a very flexible textbook because instructors’ ideas about what should be in a first
course on statistics for engineers vary widely, as do the abilities of different groups of stu-
dents. Therefore, we hesitate to give too much advice but will explain how we use the book.
We believe that a first course in statistics for engineers should be primarily an applied sta-
tistics course, not a probability course. In our one-semester course we cover all of Chapter 1
(in one or two lectures); overview the material on probability, putting most of the emphasis on
the normal distribution (six to eight lectures); discuss most of Chapters 6 though 10 on confi-
dence intervals and tests (twelve to fourteen lectures); introduce regression models in
Chapter 11 (four lectures); give an introduction to the design of experiments from Chapters 13
and 14 (six lectures); and present the basic concepts of statistical process control, including
the Shewhart control chart from Chapter 16 (four lectures). This leaves about three to four pe-
riods for exams and review. Let us emphasize that the purpose of this course is to introduce
engineers to how statistics can be used to solve real-world engineering problems, not to weed
out the less mathematically gifted students. This course is not the “baby math-stat” course that
is all too often given to engineers.
If a second semester is available, it is possible to cover the entire book, including much
of the e-Text material, if appropriate for the audience. It would also be possible to assign and
work many of the homework problems in class to reinforce the understanding of the concepts.
Obviously, multiple regression and more design of experiments would be major topics in a
second course.

USING THE COMPUTER

In practice, engineers use computers to apply statistical methods to solve problems. Therefore,
we strongly recommend that the computer be integrated into the class. Throughout the book we
have presented output from Minitab as typical examples of what can be done with modern sta-
tistical software. In teaching, we have used other software packages, including Statgraphics,
JMP, and Statisticia. We did not clutter up the book with examples from many different packages
because how the instructor integrates the software into the class is ultimately more important
than which package is used. All text data is available in electronic form on the e-Text CD. In
some chapters, there are problems that we feel should be worked using computer software. We
have marked these problems with a special icon in the margin.
In our own classrooms, we use the computer in almost every lecture and demonstrate
how the technique is implemented in software as soon as it is discussed in the lecture.
Student versions of many statistical software packages are available at low cost, and students
can either purchase their own copy or use the products available on the PC local area net-
works. We have found that this greatly improves the pace of the course and student under-
standing of the material.