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Ask HN: Suggestions for learning statistics (& prob) really fast?

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Ask HN: Suggestions for learning statistics (& prob) really fast?

#1
Any suggestions for learning basic statistics and probability (and beyond, but need a decent base first :-)?

Preferably, any material that uses R or something student-friendly (read: free or student license) would be extra credit.

Motivation: don't want to take year long stats courses in college that don't use stats software.

EDIT: Just to make the experience fruitful, I am aware of OCW, this (http://www.math.gatech.edu/~cain/textbooks/onlinebooks.html), etc... But, which materials in here or elsewhere are helpful?

Re: Ask HN: Suggestions for learning statistics (& prob) really fast?

#5
I took Applied Statistics 550 with all assignments in R. Caught me up on statistics real fast after I hadn't taken it in about 2 years. Concepts in Probability and Stochastic Modeling, Huggins and Keller-Mcnulty. Its good and short. Doesn't have the R assignments though.

Re: Ask HN: Suggestions for learning statistics (& prob) really fast?

#6
The best first book on R I've read is Gelman and Hill's "Data Analysis Using Regression and Multilevel/Hierarchical Models" (http://www.stat.columbia.edu/~gelman/arm/). It's more focused on regression and Bayesian methods than basic probability, but it's a great book that's priced very competitively (only $39.99).

Re: Ask HN: Suggestions for learning statistics (& prob) really fast?

#8
The MIT probability class targeted at EECS students is 6.041. It is on OCW. It provides a solid foundation in probability with an emphasis on applications (rather than proof). Statistics is but one application of probability and is not heavily emphasized by the class (at least when I took it). That said if you understand 6.041 you'll understand statistics without much more work. Good luck and have fun!
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