Tell me about some good statistical reference books.

July 12, 2010 2:53 PM

Book recommendation: Tell me about some good statistical reference books.

I'm finding myself often needing to refresh my memory on statistical concepts and operations I studied almost a decade ago and haven't used very much since and would like to have a good book on hand at work to so. My own textbooks from student days of yore worked with a software package, and don't help me much without it. I don't want to re-learn everything (as was the case with other related questions), but I want to quickly review bits and pieces as they relate to my projects.

Requirements: good, clear index.

Asset: if Excel formulae/functions are included alongside old-fashioned pen-and-paper how-tos, that would be extra excellent.

Also, if the examples were social sciences/economics related, that would be better than science examples.

posted by Kurichina to Education (3 answers total)

Best answer: If you need it for reference only, Statsoft has an online textbook with a detailed table of contents. I use this website quite often, but it is mainly geared toward multivariate statistics.
posted by prenominal at 5:23 PM on July 12, 2010

Best answer: I have some good recommendations for time series. Hamilton's Time Series Analysis is what most practitioners have on their desks, though it is a bit dated now.

Kennedy's A Guide to Econometrics gives an intuitive presentation as a companion to text books full of proofs and formulas.
posted by shothotbot at 8:40 PM on July 12, 2010

Currently reading "A cartoon guide to statistics" by Gonick and Smith. It's a blast: clear, concise, complete, entertaining. I'd never expect this from statistics.
posted by knz at 12:36 AM on July 13, 2010