Discovering Statistics Using IBM SPSS Statistics

I am NOT a math person by any means. I despise it most of the time (to the point of tears). However, this book has given me a connection and a new appreciation for math (in statistics form, anyway). The book is easily navigated and exceptionally written. It teaches you how to use SPSS in a fun, exciting, and witty way. I highly recommend this book to anyone who may need it to learn how to use SPSS. I had to have it for my grad school class, and I honestly fell in love with this book a bit. It's wonderful. Again, coming from a nonmath person. It made me laugh while teaching me what I needed to know. Please buy this over other books.

Andy Field's wit is significant at the .00001 level! (I'm just worried my students wish he taught the course.) This book covers everything that one could possibly expect in a combined introductory/intermediate textbook, all for under $100, and how he manages to slip in a virtual SPSS manual to boot adds further value to this splendid text. OK, some of his humor is borderline pre-adolescent, but it counters the usual uncomfortable aura around Statistics, and he does impressively explain statistical concepts at various levels of difficulty with a conversational style that makes it easier for a student to digest. My only small gripe is Field does not mention basic chi-square until page 721, after covering topics such as multiple regression, MANOVA and factor analysis. (I like the bivariate analysis to come before the multivariate, but that is a small potatoes issue, and I sort of see why he did that to fill out a chapter.)

I'm a statistics tutor and a Master's student in psychology. This is my go-to primer for most of what I do in SPSS, and I usually recommend it to my students. I tell them that it's informative while actually being readable. It's endearing and entertaining, but usually very clear. The SPSS guides are terrifically helpful. You can tell that this author is someone who genuinely cares about student learning while also genuinely caring about correct (and ethical) use of statistics. There are occasionally topics that aren't covered in as much detail as I'd like, but it's generally just beyond the scope of the book. Definitely get this one; it'll be nearly everything you'll ever need. Also, there are pictures of cats.

I'm impressed that the author has dedicated so much of his professional career to writing this book and updates it every four (I think he said four) years. We are told not to worry if the publication date of the book is a few years behind or ahead of the version of SPSS that you are using as each year the updates are not that significant. When SPSS first came out, it was its own company and I only recently learned that it was bought out by IBM. It was so cost prohibitive to buy, the only way I could have access to it was at school or work. There was a student version but it limited you to the number of cases you could enter into the software. Now it is so cheap to buy, I don't know why anyone would want to do statistics on Excell. SPSS is a really easy software program to use if you understand statistics. (I had to learn it in the old days when there was no Windows interface and had to learn coding to do my data runs!). Back in the day before IBM bought it, the software came with a ton of manuals. There was a whole cottage industry of people who would offer seminars that would cost up to $1,000.00 to teach you how to use the software that came with manuals and disks with practice exercises. I'm pretty sure this book probably put that whole industry out of business. I could only afford to take those classes if my company paid for it and I almost always had to fly to some other location to get the classes I needed that covered stuff I didn't learn in college. So compared to ten years ago, being able to have access to a book like this is unbelievably awesome! It saves you time and money and its very well written and you have to be able to trust the fact that its published by SAGE which publishes a large series of handbooks on a large number of statistical methods which were considered the gold standard but written in a very technical language. The biggest problem I have with the book is that its just too wordy. There is a lot of story telling in this book which is very time consuming to get through. Eventually you just learn how to skim over the long winded stories and start highlighting the areas where the author gets to the main point. Also, I know he is trying to be funny and appeal to college kids but I really don't think mentioning a study on the use of coke as a spermicide was something that added any value to the book. So if you are a student just learning how to use SPSS, consider yourself lucky to own this but if you are a busy working professional, this might not be your best option. There are online videos now at a website called Lynda that can walk you through the software and get you up to speed very quickly but you won't get the rich details found in the book.

Very nice and helpful book. Makes statistics less painful to deal with for my PhD. It is a not too complicated and examples make work much more fun. Very helpful subchapters on how to write the results up in your paper and when to use which method etc. It really covers a lot of things. PS note for shipping costs - it's super heavy. If you want just to get a basic understanding try "How to design and report Experiments" of the same author. It's totally easy read, but doesn't go into many details, which you will actually need. Helped me to straighten up some basic misconceptions I had.

Let me be clear.....I hate anything with numbers but I had to learn statistics by force while completing my Ph.D thesis. Just trying to figure out how to go about analyzing my data gave me a headache. However, after sitting down with this book and "biting the bullet" as they say, I found the process bearable (which is saying ALOT!!). Not only did the author give practical and funny scenarios/examples to explain concepts, he also gave step-by-step graphical instructions on how to perform functions in SPSS. He also did a pretty good job explaining how to interpret the mindboggling data that SPSS churned out. I think this is a must-have book for anyone doing quantitative research in any discipline. I still hate stats. but having this book makes the process easier to deal with.

THE GOOD: Good insight on how to use SPSS. Ensure you go to the companion website because tons of files, answers, quizzes, and tips are posted there. Make sure you download all of the SPSS data files so you can follow along with each chapter's analysis. THE GREAT: also, Andy Filed has videos online that go through the data step by step. Search for these on his website or in a search engine. Just type the topic, his name, and SPSS and it should come up. THE OK: He does not address every topic in this book. I think the reason is that the items not addressed cannot be completed in SPSS (such as confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), structural equation modeling (SEM), Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM), etc). Same goes with some of the more complicated models over time like latent growth modeling and some other multiple levels of analysis. THE BAD: He uses the examples for shock value (i think most of the data sets are made up). It gets old very quickly. the jokes are raunchy and the self-deprecation gets old too. Many (maybe most) of the examples are lude, and would be hard to discuss with most professors. To be blunt, there's only so much i can to hear about Viagra and eels up your butt. He should just change most of the examples into something a little more palatable. also keep in mind he is British and this is more in line with British humor than what you might find elsewhere in the world.

This is hands down the best stats book that I have ever read. Andy breaks concepts down in a way that is understandable, and uses simple concepts. Wow!! I am a doctorate student beginning dissertation research, and I have read all of the complicated text on statistical analysis. Andy has finally connected all of the dots for me!! I had one light bulb moment after the other. I recommend this book for everyone especially those struggling to understand statistical concepts. This book was so good, I bought it twice (hard copy and digital versions). Also, the student resources are downloadable, so even if the book is discontinued you will have all of the supplemental materials. What a treasure!!

A must have for any student (or professional) who has always felt confused by statistics! This is the quintessential manual on how to use SPSS and Andy Field’s explanation of statistics is the easiest to follow. You’ll be taken step-by-step through the entire process of using SPSS (something that no other book does as well as this one). The explanations are detailed and he includes many pictures and examples to illustrate his point.

In this book there is absolutely everything I have always needed to know about statistics and SPSS. It's extremely well written, examples are funny and easy to understand. It guides you through every step of the process, from choosing the statistics, to conducting it, interpreting it and reporting the results. I totally recommend it.

Ideal for researchers that need to master quantitative methods without being statisticians... Super funny as well, Andy is hilarious! i haven't finished reading the book yet, but i can't seem to find a chapter on cluster analysis.. It would be nice to have one in the next edition :)

nachdem ich schon viel von diesem Buch gehört habe (von Dozenten, Studenten, Tutoren), hab ich mir diese neue Ausgabe hier zugelegt und bin sehr begeistert! Ich muss mich für die Prüfung in Multivariate vorbereiten und außer der Clusteranalyse (über die der Herr Field auch eine kurze Einführung geschrieben hat, die man leicht im Internet findet), ist eigentlich alles drin, was man braucht. Im Vergleich zur alten Ausgabe (die noch bei uns im Hiwizimmer lag), sind die Grafiken jetzt bunt und sehr schick - alles wirkt viel moderner und v.a. sind einige wichtige Erweiterungen (z.B. Mediator- und Moderatoranalyse) enthalten. Das Englisch ist wirklich super zu verstehen - es liest sich fließend, v.a. wenn man vom Studium schon das ein oder andere englische Paper gewohnt ist. Mit viel Humor und Ironie (die auch mal gegen sich selbst gerichtet sind), führt Andy Field durch die oft verwirrenden Themen d. Statistik und zeigt in jedem Kapitel, das im Prinzip alle Analysen auf ein und dasselbe Lineare Modell zurückzuführen sind. Damit ist unser (wirklich engagierter, aber didaktisch leider wenig hilfespendender Professor) auch erst jetzt im Masterstudium herausgerückt - schaffte es aber leider nicht so klar und z.T. unterhaltsam herüberzubringen, wie der Herr Field hier. Auch wenn die regelmäßig auftauchenden Comic-Figuren (allen voran Brian, der versucht das Statistik-Genie Jane zu beeindrucken, indem er alles über Statistik lernt) wohl nicht für jeden etwas sind, verleihen sie dem ganzen Thema doch einen zwangloseren Geschmack, strukturieren die Kapitel (liefern z.B. Zusammenfassungen o. SPSS-Tipps) und sind manchmal einfach ganz nett, um das Gehirn etwas zu entspannen ;-) Deshalb klare Empfehlung an alle, die Statistik wirklich mal verstehen wollen: kaufen! ;-)

I have had a fear of numbers since school, as my teacher showed little patience towards those of us who found statistics harder than the A grade students. As part of my psychology degree I have been forced to confront this fear. The modules at university have been dry to say the least, and this certainly makes learning more challenging. I was recommended this book and it has made statistics much more, dare I say, 'fun' for me to learn. My confidence is gradually growing; I thought it might be that I am just not intelligent enough to understand all this, but the book is proving me wrong :) I don't think statistics comes easy to me and I am having to re-read bits of the book to remember different concepts as there is a lot of learn but I have no doubt that it will sink in. This is not a reflection on the book or the way it is written by the way, it is just me having trouble with retaining lots of information. The book is great; it goes through statistical concepts and analyses starting from 1st year undergraduate to 3rd year and beyond, so things get more challenging as you go through the book. It also helps you learn how to use SPSS, which isn't overly complicated once you know your way around it, and Andy gives some humorous examples when explaining different statistical concepts which make the reading a lot easier. I would highly recommend this book to undergraduate students and postgraduate. Also check out Andy's website 'statistics hell' which has video tutorials and handouts which are equally as useful.