Bruce Frey

Statistics Hacks (eBook, ePUB)

Tips & Tools for Measuring the World and Beating the Odds

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

Want to calculate the probability that an event will happen? Be able to spot fake data? Prove beyond doubt whether one thing causes another? Or learn to be a better gambler? You can do that and much more with 75 practical and fun hacks packed into Statistics Hacks. These cool tips, tricks, and mind-boggling solutions from the world of statistics, measurement, and research methods will not only amaze and entertain you, but will give you an advantage in several real-world situations-including business.This book is ideal for anyone who likes puzzles, brainteasers, games, gambling, magic tricks, and those who want to apply math and science to everyday circumstances. Several hacks in the first chapter alone-such as the "e;central limit theorem,"e;, which allows you to know everything by knowing just a little-serve as sound approaches for marketing and other business objectives. Using the tools of inferential statistics, you can understand the way probability works, discover relationships, predict events with uncanny accuracy, and even make a little money with a well-placed wager here and there.Statistics Hacks presents useful techniques from statistics, educational and psychological measurement, and experimental research to help you solve a variety of problems in business, games, and life. You'll learn how to:Play smart when you play Texas Hold 'Em, blackjack, roulette, dice games, or even the lotteryDesign your own winnable bar bets to make money and amaze your friendsPredict the outcomes of baseball games, know when to "e;go for two"e; in football, and anticipate the winners of other sporting events with surprising accuracyDemystify amazing coincidences and distinguish the truly random from the only seemingly random--even keep your iPod's "e;random"e; shuffle honestSpot fraudulent data, detect plagiarism, and break codesHow to isolate the effects of observation on the thing observedWhether you're a statistics enthusiast who does calculations in your sleep or a civilian who is entertained by clever solutions to interesting problems, Statistics Hacks has tools to give you an edge over the world's slim odds.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: O'Reilly Media
• Seitenzahl: 358
• Erscheinungstermin: 9. Mai 2006
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9780596553999
• Artikelnr.: 52948067

Autorenporträt

Bruce Frey, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of psychology and research in education at the University of Kansas. Previous books include "Online Auctions! I Didn't Know You Could Do That " published by Sybex and, with Neil Salkind, "eBay Online Auctions: Effective Buying and Selling with eBay" published by Muska & Lipman. He is an award-winning teacher of statistics, research design, and measurement. Bruce enjoys movies and collecting comic books, especially those early 1960s DCs with the cool checkered flag pattern. (Note to his tenure committee: In the research field of education, he is also an author of fifty scholarly publications and papers.)

Inhaltsangabe

Credits
About the Author
Contributors
Acknowledgments
Preface
Why Statistics Hacks?
How This Book Is Organized
Conventions Used in This Book
Safari Enabled
How to Contact Us
Got a Hack?
Chapter 1: The Basics
1 Know the Big Secret
2 Describe the World Using Just Two Numbers
3 Figure the Odds
4 Reject the Null
5 Go Big to Get Small
6 Measure Precisely
7 Measure Up
8 Power Up
9 Show Cause and Effect
10 Know Big When You See It
Chapter 2: Discovering Relationships
11 Discover Relationships
12 Graph Relationships
13 Use One Variable to Predict Another
14 Use More Than One Variable to Predict Another
15 Identify Unexpected Outcomes
16 Identify Unexpected Relationships
17 Compare Two Groups
18 Find Out Just How Wrong You Really Are
19 Sample Fairly
20 Sample with a Touch of Scotch
21 Choose the Honest Average
22 Avoid the Axis of Evil
Chapter 3: Measuring the World
23 See the Shape of Everything
24 Produce Percentiles
25 Predict the Future with the Normal Curve
26 Give Raw Scores a Makeover
27 Standardize Scores
28 Ask the Right Questions
29 Test Fairly
30 Improve Your Test Score While Watching Paint Dry
31 Establish Reliability
32 Establish Validity
33 Predict the Length of a Lifetime
34 Make Wise Medical Decisions
Chapter 4: Beating the Odds
35 Gamble Smart
36 Know When to Hold 'Em
37 Know When to Fold 'Em
38 Know When to Walk Away
39 Lose Slowly at Roulette
40 Play in the Black in Blackjack
41 Play Smart When You Play the Lottery
42 Play with Cards and Get Lucky
43 Play with Dice and Get Lucky
44 Sharpen Your Card-Sharping
45 Amaze Your 23 Closest Friends
46 Design Your Own Bar Bet
47 Go Crazy with Wild Cards
48 Never Trust an Honest Coin
49 Know Your Limit
Chapter 5: Playing Games
50 Avoid the Zonk
51 Pass Go, Collect $200, Win the Game
52 Use Random Selection as Artificial Intelligence
53 Do Card Tricks Through the Mail
54 Check Your iPod's Honesty
55 Predict the Game Winners
56 Predict the Outcome of a Baseball Game
57 Plot Histograms in Excel
58 Go for Two
59 Rank with the Best of Them
60 Estimate Pi by Chance
Chapter 6: Thinking Smart
61 Outsmart Superman
62 Demystify Amazing Coincidences
63 Sense the Real Randomness of Life
64 Spot Faked Data
65 Give Credit Where Credit Is Due
66 Play a Tune on Pascal's Triangle
67 Control Random Thoughts
68 Search for ESP
69 Cure Conjunctionitus
70 Break Codes with Etaoin Shrdlu
71 Discover a New Species
72 Feel Connected
73 Learn to Ride a Votercycle
74 Live Life in the Fast Lane (You're Already In)
75 Seek Out New Life and New Civilizations
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