I'm sure this will get as many responses as there are books available, but
I'll give it a try anyway. I've been teaching elementary introductory
statistics for some 35 years and have always preferred textbooks that
develop the theory of inferential statistics by providing a foundation in
probability. Once Guenther's _Concepts of Statistical Inference_ went out
of print, rather than use commercially available texts, I developed a series
of note sets formy students. As I've not taught the course for the last
several years, I've been out of touch with the textbook market, but I will
again teach it in the fall to a bunch of freshman honors students. I don't
particularly want to use my note sets again as the examples are all pretty
outdated and I simply haven't got the time -- nor, to be honest, the
inclination -- to revise them all. Consequently, I was hoping someone
might suggest a good text to use. My idea of "good" is one that develops
the theory of statistical inference by providing a good probability
foundation, includes distribution and density functions, sampling
distributions, does not require a calculus background, does not oversimplify
to the point of making false statements, is not limited to a single
disciplinary point of view, and says things well once (or maybe twice)
rather than poorly many times over. Perhaps this is an unreasonable request
in an age when textbooks are valued more for their entertainment value and
redundancy than for their disciplinary content, but I continue to hope.
Thanks in advance,
Dick Seymann
Richard G. Seymann, Ph.D.
Professor of Statistics
Director of Academic Assessment
Director of the Westover Honors Program
Lynchburg College, Lynchburg, VA 24501
Phone: (804)544-8258, Fax: (804)544-8658
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