An Adventure in Statistics: The Reality Enigma

by Andy Field

A better way to learn statistics―see how a story can change learning outcomes! Shortlisted for the Association of Learned & Professional Society Publishers Award for Innovation in Publishing 2016! An Adventure in The Reality Enigma by best-selling author and award-winning teacher Andy Field offers a better way to learn statistics. It combines rock-solid statistics coverage with compelling visual story-telling to address the conceptual difficulties that students learning statistics for the first time often encounter in introductory courses―guiding students away from rote memorization and toward critical thinking and problem solving. Field masterfully weaves in a unique, action-packed story starring Zach, a character designed to think like a student who processes information, and the challenges of understanding it, the way a statistics novice would. Illustrated with stunning graphic-novel style art and featuring Socratic dialogue, the story captivates readers as it introduces them to concepts, eliminating potential statistics anxiety. Providing a vibrant alternative to the dullness of many typical offerings, the book assumes no previous statistics knowledge nor does it require the use of data analysis software. It covers the material you would expect for an introductory level statistics course that Field’s other books ( Discovering Statistics Using IBM SPSS Statistics and Discovering Statistics Using R ) only touch on, but with a contemporary twist, laying down strong foundations for understanding classical and Bayesian approaches to data analysis. In doing so, it provides an unrivalled launch pad to further study, research, and inquisitiveness about the real world, equipping students with the skills to succeed in their chosen degree and which they can go on to apply in the workplace.   Key Features Related

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Mathematics, Psychology, Education, Textbooks, Research

768 pages, Hardcover

Published June 16, 2016

About the author

Andy Field is Professor of Child Psychopathology at the University of Sussex. He has published over 70 research papers, 27 book chapters, and 17 books mostly on child emotional development and statistics.

He is the founding editor of the Journal of Experimental Psychopathology and has been an associate editor and editorial board member for the British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology, Cognition and Emotion, Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review and Research Synthesis Methods.

His ability to make statistics accessible and fun has been recognized with local and national teaching awards (University of Sussex, 2001; the British Psychological Society, 2007), a prestigious UK National Teaching Fellowship (2010), and the British Psychological Society book award (2006). He adores cats, and loves to listen to and play very heavy music. He lives in Brighton with his wonderful wife Zoë and Fuzzy the cat.

Reviews

[☘Misericordia☘ ⚡ϟ⚡⛈⚡☁ ❇️❤❣ · Rating 5 out of 5]

The coolest ever statistics textbook. Exactly what I wanted to flip through.

Q:
Zach and I are children of the Reality Revolution: the first generation born after society collapsed. Before then, everyone believed that they were special, talented, and destined for fame. People blamed reality TV, but perhaps we all need to hope for a bright future to keep us sane. Whatever the reason, values of hard work and collective good were eroded and replaced with selfinterest and entitlement. (c)
Q:
The reality prism bought honesty to the world: propaganda and media influence became impossible in a world where people could bisect the objective truth from the subjective spin. (c)
Q:
Imagine seeing yourself stripped of the small, harmless tricks that our minds play to make ourselves feel better about who we are. The prism let people see how intelligent, funny, attractive, and talented they really were, and for most people the truth didn’t live up to their beliefs. Most of us are ordinary, and there’s nothing wrong with that, unless society tells you that ordinary isn’t good enough. (c)
Q:
without self-belief there is no creativity, and without creativity there cannot be musicians, artists, or writers (c)

[Ian Greener · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introduction to proper statistical work

Good fun, but also good depth. My only concern is that it does get rather close to his other books, so this should be considered an alternative rather than an addition. I'd recommend this to anyone who wants to get a decent statistical education in a friendly format. The story is deeply cheesy - but works in conveying the information, and does help keep you going until the end.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four stars because it's still a statistics book, but this was the most interesting stats book I've read. The novel meets statistics text was a novel approach,and I think it helped with understanding. I lost steam in the last few chapters, but this book was not meant to be read in a single week as I chose to do.

[Gena Khodos · Rating 1 out of 5]

Idiotically stupid.
Surely one can explain the basics of statistics without devolving into sexist tropes. A data set on "what women want in a man"? This is embarrassing.

[Claudia Righy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantástico! Nunca imaginei que conseguiria aprender alguma coisa de estatística com tanta facilidade! Esse livro foi uma excelente surpresa! Confesso que pensei muito antes de comprá-lo (ele tem umas 700 páginas), mas logo percebi que foi a melhor decisão que eu poderia ter tomado. Recomendo muito! Tenho certeza de que ainda vou relê-lo algumas vezes. 💜

[Odin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hate cats, love statistics. Compromise; worth it.

[Eszter · Rating 3 out of 5]

A different approach for an introductory statistics textbook. The story was very cheesy and distracting, though. Also, the examples were hard to follow in the ebook-edition due to poor formatting. Tables were shown not until many pages later, cross-references that were not easy to track down, etc.
The book lost quite a lot of its potential just on the poor formatting and presentation of the examples.

[Jesse Langeveld · Rating 1 out of 5]

An absolute abomination for university textbooks. It is a nice try to make it more interesting and I suppose one likes it a lot or one doesn't. I think the story disstracts from the actual things it is supposed to be about. it also doesn't do a very good job at explaining things. it contradicts with saying things are the same when in fact they are totally different things. This book could have been much smaller and just explain statistics without the ridiculous sci-fi story.

[Sabrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best statistics books I've ever read. It is fun to read and explains the concepts in a very good way. I used it for my statistics class and my students loved it too. I recommend it to everyone who thinks statistics is boring and hard.

[Shona A.]

For statistics geeks looking for ways to make teaching it more enjoyable and easier to understand for students.

[Emil O. W. Kirkegaard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely the strangest stats textbook I've read.

[Mads Motema · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is... something else. But i loved it. I feel like it was written for me personally, because it is weird and nerdy in exactly the right way: the lovechild between a dystopian sci-fi novel with some elements of of mindblowing science references that gave me the same feeling as reading through certain monologues about morphogenetic fields, ice-9 or timeline paradoxes in a certain game series gave me (please play zero escape) and a statistics textbook. this book is extremely good at conveying the foundations of statistics that you would learn in a bachelor‘s degree of psychology or social sciences (truth be told, i am a psychologist so i can only speak for that field) while also getting you incredibly involved in the story of zach, milton, alice and celia. and on top of that, it is so incredibly funny and had some lines that literally killed me because this statistics novel had NO RIGHT to fucking make me cry??? but here we are????
so while this book is definitely not for everyone (i mean, it’s like 550 pages of statistics knowledge and 150 pages of story and sadly, not everyone shares my passion for statistics...) it is one of the best things i’ve ever encountered. i can’t believe this book exists and i am so so happy it does.

[Steve Granger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dare I say the greatest graphic novel statistics textbook in the English language? There is no doubt - as it's the only one of its kind. If you've ever taken intro stats, you may have read one of Andy Field's excellent Discovering Statistics textbooks. They are usually the best to start with, particularly for anyone new or intimidated by the topic as he writes with humility, wit, and clarity. Here, Andy Field is attempting to take it to the next level: integrating the fundamentals of statistics into an overarching narrative. I think this is an admirable goal and has great potential for teaching and learning; being able to work through a story and tie complex ideas to events and feelings can be extremely powerful (hence why I read it!). My main gripe is that the story is "heavy on the cheese" and at many times painfully feeble, making you feel somewhat like a child. That said, it's extremely difficult to turn a statistics textbook into a rich and interesting story, so kudos to Andy Field for having the guts to try and, for the most part, succeeding.

[Jocelyn Glenday · Rating 1 out of 5]

TW for ableist language

If I could give less stars I would. All the complaints about how confusing it is to decipher the stats info from a boring and badly written story are true. But the biggest nail in the coffin is the use of the r-word towards the end of the book. It ia not used in a clinical sense (as in the previous medical definition), but is used to describe how a character in the book speaks (as in a slur). For a TEXTBOOK, this is unacceptable and I am baffled as to how that made it past the editors and other publishing professionals that would have reviewed this before it was printed and used in diverse classrooms all over. Despicable.

I do hope hey have fixed this error since I was using this book in ~2017 but I don't know that it would have been.

[Jim D'Ambrosia · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a grade-A idea, to introduce statistics using a real-world set of issues to solve. The execution just isn't quite there though, to really raise this above the ordinary. I liked the fact that many contemporary (relatively) issues were raised, more than in most introductory books. I think the book somewhat outran its ability to educate; by the end, the topics were more quantitative and you probably had to be working exercises on your own (none were provided) to really be able to understand it.

[Caitlin · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a terrible stats book. Stats is hard enough as it is without trying to decipher statistics from a story plot. It was the required textbook for my university’s Psychology statistics class and only one person read more than two chapters worth of the book and that was only cause they liked the story. She didn’t understand the stats that was smattered throughout the book.

My recommendation DON’T WASTE YOUR MONEY

[Nigel Haywood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another mighty tome from the slightly out-there social science Professor at Sussex. Enthusiastic and committed, Field is never less than entertaining, and always informative. The first time, to my knowledge, that anyone has attemted to teach statistics from elementary to undergraduate level through a love story. But if anyone can pull it off, he can. I'm just not sure anyone can really pull it off. The hero is immensely irritating, but there is a talking cat.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Introductory book to statistics, especially interesting for psychology students. I read this quite some time after having finished my studies simply for the story :) Also, the overall layout (illustrations, etc.) also stand out compared to other books.

[Ann Deraedt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zeer lijvig boek. Het concept - storytelling- is prachtig. Moeilijk te gebruiken als een handboek wel om zelfstandig te leren. Zeer goed opgemaakt, met vragen en alles erop en eraan om te weten of je de statistiek wel begrepen hebt.

[Michael]

https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearne...

https://www.discoveringstatistics.com...

[Valentina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes I know this is technically a text book but it’s going on my Goodreads because it’s a goddamn BOOK and I READ it.

Honestly helped me massively in my statistics test. Milton the cat does an excellent job of explaining statistics

[Lara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book about statistics and the story is completely crazy but I read the whole 600 pages so it can't have been too bad. Actually I kind of had to for university. Let's see how the exam goes.

[Lim Yi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't read the whole book. The statistic explanation in the book is very clear but the story is meh.

[David Mackay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Statistical Mystery

Great book, learned a lot. Will have to read again to go over it. I would recommend this book to others!

[Ali Dawood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book.
If you want to read a beautiful fictional story, and want to learn statistics without being bored, this book will be the best choice.

[Mrs H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazingly delivers an understanding of statistics that I haven't received through other books

[Alexander R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was great but when the phrase "speech capabilities of a retarded snake" (p. 503) is used to describe a character, then I can't in good conscience give a five-star rating.

[amelia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Andy Field is a fantastic statistician for the social sciences, and I thoroughly recommend the author, having completed a BSc and MSc in Psychology. However, this storybook of a stats book did not take my fancy. I know people who did enjoy the story, and it helped them make sense of the statistics, that part just wasn't for me. It's a fantastic introduction to statistics in the meat of it, and helpfully, Field includes summary and key points boxes so that you can skip the story line - so don't write the book off completely.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I prefer a maths style text book. The storytelling might help some people but I found the stories harder to wade through than any maths.

[Serjious Tsiulinsky · Rating 1 out of 5]

A book written by the person who knows the stuff, but is so poor at telling stories — so the book becomes a huge chunk of pathless graphomania