Think Bayes - Bayesian Statistics Made Simple
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Think Bayes - Bayesian Statistics Made Simple
1–10 of 48 posts
Re: Think Bayes - Bayesian Statistics Made Simple
#2FB announcement where I found this - https://www.facebook.com/thinkstats/posts/325778617519425
Re: Think Bayes - Bayesian Statistics Made Simple
#3Has anyone used the Think Stats book? Is it a good intro to stats?
Re: Think Bayes - Bayesian Statistics Made Simple
#4Link to Think Stats, the author’s previous book: http://thinkstats.com/
Re: Think Bayes - Bayesian Statistics Made Simple
#5Has anyone used the Think Stats book? Is it a good intro to stats?
It's really, really good, especially if you're interested in the why and not just the "give me the damn test I need to run in SPSS and what number to look at". Plus, because you spend a lot of time coding, it's more fun and less dry than most stats books.
Re: Think Bayes - Bayesian Statistics Made Simple
#6Has anyone used the Think Stats book? Is it a good intro to stats?
It's really, really good, especially if you're interested in the why and not just the "give me the damn test I need to run in SPSS and what number to look at". Plus, because you spend a lot of time coding, it's more fun and less dry than most stats books.
Think Java is also excellent. I think it may have been the first (non R) programming book I read, and it helped me get more into programming which wasn't just for stats.
I have recommended think stats to many people, and it appears to be somewhat of a success. And its free documentation, which is wonderful.
Re: Think Bayes - Bayesian Statistics Made Simple
#7thank you ! should help in coursera's pgm course somewhat i guess
Re: Think Bayes - Bayesian Statistics Made Simple
#8I'm really interested in knowing the prereqs I should have before picking up a book like this. Coming from a weak math background I find these books highly appealing but mildly intimidating. Also, could someone advise me on the preferred order of tackling the following Books?
1. Think Bayes
2. Think Stats
3. Programming Collective Intelligence by T.Segaran
Re: Think Bayes - Bayesian Statistics Made Simple
#9My problem with books like this is that they have almost no connection to why Bayesian statistics is successful: Bayesian statistics provides a unified recipe to tackle complex data analysis problems. Arguably the only known unified recipe.
The Bayesian book I want should emphasize how Bayes is a recipe for studying complex problems and teach a broad range of model ingredients. Learning Bayesian statistics is about becoming fluent in describing scientific problems in probabilistic language. This requires knowing how to express and compose traditional models and build new ones based on first principles.
An unfortunate reality is that you still need to know computational methods too, but that should change soon enough.
Re: Think Bayes - Bayesian Statistics Made Simple
#10So, I'm going to counter here and say I don't find this to be a good intro. I started reading and had not heard of the "Girl named Florida" problem and then went to the linked to blog post http://allendowney.blogspot.com/2011/11/girl-named-florida-s...
The way he explains it I found to be confusing and counter-intuitive. I've taken basic stats in college, and learned some of the associated problems, though not this one, and learned the material though not in this particular way. I have to agree whole-heartedly with the commenter on that post "JeffJo" who stipulates why it's an ineffectual way to present the material. Furthermore, I found the author's dismissal of the valid criticism to be enough to not want me to read further.