Preface
This book may be downloaded as a fre e PDF at openintro.org.
We hope readers will take away three ideas from this book in addi t i on to forming a f ou n-
dation of statistical thinking and methods.
(1) Statistics is an applied field wit h a wide range of practi cal app l ic at ion s.
(2) You don’t have to be a math guru to learn from real, interesting data.
(3) Data are messy, and statistical tools are imperfect. But, when you understand
the strengths and weak ne s ses of these tools, you can use them to learn about the
real world.
Textb ook overview
The chapters of t h is book are as foll ows:
1. Introduction to data. Data structur es , variables, summaries, graphics, and b asi c
data collection techniques.
2. Probability (special topic). The basic principles of probability. An understanding
of t hi s chapter is not re qu i r ed for the mai n content i n Chapt e rs 3-8.
3. Distributions of random variables. Introduction to the normal model and other
key distributions.
4. Foundations for inference. Gene r al ideas for statistical inference in the context of
estimating the population mean.
5. Inference for numerical data. Inference for one or two sample means using the
t-distribution, and also comparisons of many means using ANOVA.
6. Inference for categorical data. Inference for proporti ons using the normal and chi-
square distributions, as well as simulation and randomization techniques.
7. Introduction to linear regression. An introduction to regression with two variables.
Most of this chapter could be covered after Chapter 1.
8. Multiple and logistic regression. A light introduction to multiple regression and
logistic regression for an accelerated course.
OpenIntro Statistics was written to allow flexibility in choosing and ordering course
topics. Th e material is divided into two pieces: main text and special topics. The main
text has been structured to bring statistic al inference and modeling closer to the front of a
course. Special topics, labeled in the table of contents and in section titles , may be added
to a cour s e as they ari se natu r all y in t h e curr i cu lu m.
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