Essentials of Business Statistics: Communicating with Numbers because we
saw a need for a contemporary, core statistics text that sparked student interest and
bridged the gap between how statistics is taught and how practitioners think about and
apply statistical methods. Throughout the text, the emphasis is on communicating with
numbers rather than on number crunching. In every chapter, students are exposed to
statistical information conveyed in written form. By incorporating the perspective of
practitioners, it has been our goal to make the subject matter more relevant and the presentation of material more straightforward for students. Although the text is applicationoriented and practical, it is also mathematically sound and uses notation that is generally accepted for the topic being covered.
From our years of experience in the classroom, we have found that an effective way
to make statistics interesting is to use timely applications. For these reasons, examples
in Essentials of Business Statistics come from all walks of life, including business, economics, sports, health, housing, the environment, polling, and psychology. By carefully matching examples with statistical methods, students learn to appreciate the relevance of statistics in our world today, and perhaps, end up learning statistics without realizing they are doing so.