A statistics book is not something that most people would look for in a veterinary technician book review section. However occasionally veterinary and veterinary technician students find themselves involved in the study of statistics, especially if they are looking to go into a career as a technician educator or the research genre of animal husbandry and care. Statistics at the Bench is a great resource for those who are not only studying statistics at an undergraduate or beginner’s level but also are incorporating Excel spreadsheets as a way of computing information.
This book is a hard cover, spiral bound edition that allows it to be laid flat on a desk or bench while working; an attractive feature. It is comprised of eight chapters over the course of one hundred and sixty-seven pages. The book begins with a chapter that introduces students to the most common pitfalls of statistical inference. This allows students to review some problems they may encounter when delving into statistics so as to avoid them. The book goes on to define, in simple terms, the various concepts of statistics followed by directions on how to complete statistical analysis using Excel spreadsheets. Example ‘problems’ are included which can be completed and checked against correct answers for improved understanding of formula manipulation. Throughout the book wherever students are utilizing Excel spreadsheets, there are pictures of the computer screen and how it should look if problems are being worked properly.
Finally as if all the helpful hints and screen shots of how things should look are not enough; the book has an index of worked examples to compare with an analysis the student is performing. Furthermore there is an index of Excel commands that will be very helpful to those who have not had a chance to learn Excel from the inside out. Both of these indexes allow for quick location of information which may be needed especially by the beginner statistician.
As a reviewer, I found this book to be a charming and non-depressing introduction to a subject that can be frightening for beginners. Having taken statistics during my veterinary technician training as well as now teaching the subject in combination with epidemiology, I found this to be a book that I reach for over and over when trying to explain things in different ways so that students can understand. I do not feel that this is a book that veterinary technicians or veterinarians will get a lot of use out of in a clinical field of practice. For this reason I gave the book a 4. For those who choose to go into research or are currently veterinary or veterinary technician students in a statistics class, this will be a keeper.
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press (CSHLP)
ISBN #: 978-0879698577
VIN Store: Currently unavailable