This is an introductory statistics textbook that is designed for the discriminating economics student and for the instructor who wants his or her students to acquire a clear understanding of probability and some insight into the theory of statistical inference.
Every effort is made to give the reader an intuitive grasp of the concepts.
There are many novel features in the book including easy to use software that allows students to simulate and explore statistical concepts on their own. The exercises are divided into three groups to serve three distinct objectives, practice at calculation, exploring the tools in the sense of discovering the properties and limitations of the statistics discussed in the text, and finally applications. Finally, the applications exercises stress the need for the reader to consider which tools are appropriate, what data might be needed and how relevant are the data at hand. Most importantly, the reader is encouraged to explore the interpretation of the statistical results and question the extent to which the statistical exercise did or did not address the practical question posed in the beginning. The computing aspects of the text are based on the use of Excel spread sheets for the data and the main software for the labs is based on the use of S-Plus Student Edition.