Page 24 - Intermediate Statistics for Dummies

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Introduction
The statistical software package I use and display throughout the book
is Minitab 14, but I simply refer to it as Minitab.
Whenever I introduce a new term, I italicize it.
Keywords and numbered steps appear in boldface.
Web sites and e-mail addresses appear in monofont.
What You’re Not to Read
At times I get into some of the more technical details of formulas and proce-
dures for those individuals who may need to know (or just really want to).
These minutiae are marked with a Technical Stuff icon. I also include sidebars
as an aside to the essential text, usually in the form of a real-life statistics
example or some bonus info you may find interesting. You can feel free to
skip those icons and sidebars because you won’t miss any of the main infor- 3
mation you need (but by reading it, you may just be able to impress your stat
professor with your above-and-beyond knowledge of intermediate statistics!).
Foolish Assumptions
Because this books deals with intermediate statistics, I assume you have had
one previous course in introductory statistics under your belt (or have at
least read Statistics For Dummies [Wiley]), with topics taking you up through
the Central Limit Theorem and perhaps an introduction to confidence inter-
vals and hypothesis tests (although I review these concepts briefly in Chap-
ter 3). Prior experience with simple linear regression isn’t necessary. Only
college algebra is needed for the mathematics details. Some experience using
statistical software is a plus but not required.
As a student, you may be covering these topics in one of two ways: either at
the tail end of your introductory statistics course (perhaps in a hurried way,
but in some way nonetheless); or through a two-course sequence in statistics
in which the topics in this book are the focus of the second course. If so, this
book provides you just the information you need to do well in those courses.
You may simply be interested in intermediate statistics from an everyday
point of view or want to add to your understanding of studies and statistical
results presented in the media. If this is you, you can find plenty of real-world
examples and applications of these statistical techniques in action as well as
cautions for interpreting them.