The Joy of Stats offers a reader-friendly introduction to applied statistics and quantitative analysis in the social sciences and public policy. Perfect as an undergraduate text or self-study manual, it emphasizes how to understand concepts, interpret algorithms and formulas, analyze data, and answer research questions.

This brand new edition offers examples and visualizations using real-life data, a revised discussion of statistical inference, and introductory examples in R and SPSS. The third edition has been extensively reorganized with shorter chapters and closer links between concepts and formulas, while retaining useful pedagogical features including key terms, practice exercises, a math refresher, and playful inserts on "the mathematical imagination." The Joy of Stats also places a strong emphasis on learning how to write and speak clearly about data results. Supported by a companion website with data sets and additional resources, The Joy of Stats is a superb choice for introducing students to applied statistics and for refreshing and reviewing stats as a social scientist, public policy professional, or community activist.

The Joy of Stats opens the door to statistics and quantitative analysis in the social sciences with a brief and accessible guide for students and professionals.

List of Figures and Tables
Preface

Part One: Getting Started
1. Thinking about Numbers
2. Variables

Part Two: Describing Distributions
3. Describing Variable Distributions—First Steps
4. Measures of Central Tendency
5. Variability and Z-scores

Part Three: Statistical Inference
6. Thinking about Statistical Inference
7. Doing Statistical Inference

Part Four: Relations Among Variables
8. Regression and Correlation
9. Comparing Means
10. Categorical Variables
11. Multiple Regression and Logistic Regression
12. Reading Research

Math Refresher
Charts for Distributions
Bibliography
Index