Most textbooks on regression focus on theory and the simplest of examples. Real statistical problems, however, are complex and subtle. This is not a book about the theory of regression. It is about using regression to solve real problems of comparison, estimation, prediction, and causal inference. Unlike other books, it focuses on practical issues such as sample size and missing data and a wide range of goals and techniques. It jumps right in to methods and computer code you can use immediately. Real examples, real stories from the authors' experience demonstrate what regression can do and its limitations, with practical advice for understanding assumptions and implementing methods for experiments and observational studies. They make a smooth transition to logistic regression and GLM. The emphasis is on computation in R and Stan rather than derivations, with code available online. Graphics and presentation aid understanding of the models and model fitting.

Review Journal of Modern History : The book is a pleasure to read: the prose sparkles; the protagonists are vividly drawn; the illustrations are handsome and illuminating; the insights plentiful and sharp. This will remain the definitive work on the early development of mathematical statistics for some time to come. --Lorraine J. Daston Science : An exceptionally searching, almost loving, study of the relevant inspirations and aberrations of its principal characters James Bernoulli, de Moivre, Bayes, Laplace, Gauss, Quetelet, Lexis, Galton, Edgeworth, and Pearson, not neglecting a grand supporting cast...The definitive record of an intellectual Golden Age, an overoptimistic climb to a height not to be maintained. --M. Stone New York Times Book Review : One is tempted to say that the history of statistics in the nineteenth century will be associated with the name Stigler. --Morris Kline Contemporary Psychology : In this tour de force of careful scholarship, Stephen Stigler has laid bare the people, ideas, and events underlying the development of statistics...He has written an important and wonderful book...Sometimes Stigler's prose is so evocative it is almost poetic. --Howard Wainer Review Stigler's book exhibits a rare combination of mastery of technical materials, sensitivity to conceptual milieu, and near exhaustive familiarity with primary sources. An exemplary study --Lorraine Daston

Book Description Historical records show that there was no real concept of probability in Europe before the mid-seventeenth century, although the use of dice and other randomizing objects was commonplace. Ian Hacking presents a philosophical critique of early ideas about probability, induction, and statistical inference and the growth of this new family of ideas in the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries. The contemporary debates center around figures such as Pascal, Leibniz, and Jacques Bernoulli. Hacking invokes a wider intellectual framework involving the growth of science, economics, and the theology of the period. He argues that the transformations that made it possible for probability concepts to emerge have constrained all subsequent development of probability theory and determine the space within which philosophical debate on the subject is still conducted. First published in 1975, this edition includes a new introduction that contextualizes his book in light of new work and philosophical trends.

http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674088917

Quantitative analysis is an increasingly essential skill for social science research, yet students in the social sciences and related areas typically receive little training in it—or if they do, they usually end up in statistics classes that offer few insights into their field. This textbook is a practical introduction to data analysis and statistics written especially for undergraduates and beginning graduate students in the social sciences and allied fields, such as economics, sociology, public policy, and data science. Quantitative Social Science engages directly with empirical analysis, showing students how to analyze data using the R programming language and to interpret the results—it encourages hands-on learning, not paper-and-pencil statistics. More than forty data sets taken directly from leading quantitative social science research illustrate how data analysis can be used to answer important questions about society and human behavior. Proven in the classroom, this one-of-a-kind textbook features numerous additional data analysis exercises and interactive R programming exercises, and also comes with supplementary teaching materials for instructors. Written especially for students in the social sciences and allied fields, including economics, sociology, public policy, and data science Provides hands-on instruction using R programming, not paper-and-pencil statistics Includes more than forty data sets from actual research for students to test their skills on Covers data analysis concepts such as causality, measurement, and prediction, as well as probability and statistical tools Features a wealth of supplementary exercises, including additional data analysis exercises and interactive programming exercises Offers a solid foundation for further study Comes with additional course materials online, including notes, sample code, exercises and problem sets with solutions, and lecture slides