Introductory Statistics

Introductory Statistics, Fifth Edition, reviews statistical concepts and techniques in a manner that will teach students not only how and when to utilize the statistical procedures developed, but also how to understand why these procedures should be used. The text's main merits are the clarity of presentation, contemporary examples and applications from diverse areas, an explanation of intuition, and the ideas behind the statistical methods.

Concepts are motivated, illustrated, and explained in a way that attempts to increase one's intuition. To quote from the preface, it is only when a student develops a feel or intuition for statistics that they are really on the path toward making sense of data. Ross achieves this goal through a coherent mix of mathematical analysis, intuitive discussions, and examples.

Applications and examples refer to real-world issues, such as gun control, stock price models, vaccines and other health issues, driving age limits, school admission ages, use of helmets, sports, scientific fraud, and many others.

Review of the previous edition:
"The coverage is careful and slow, with many worked examples and plenty of problems, half of which have answers. ...Illuminating examples abound. Those who are less than wholly confident about any of the material will find it a rich and unthreatening resource of information and also of questions (even if they are almost all derived from a US context). I have been looking for some time for a properly academic superior to M.J. Moroney’s invaluable if outdated Facts from figures which I have used for forty years, and this would seem to fill the bill."—The Mathematical Gazette

"There are some interesting topics included that are not in most introductory stats texts, such as the Gini index, bandit problems, and quality control."—MAA Reviews