Hi My wording is probably poor ... I supplement with pre-binomial probability material (e.g., some counting rules) to link multiplication and addition rules to binomial so that students understand the elements of the binomial theorem when we do that part of Pagano. It has been a few years since I've done the intro level course, but Pagano did not (and perhaps still does not?) explain binomial in terms of probability of particular sequence of success and failures (multiplication rule) X number of ways that such a sequence could occur (addition rule), although he has some simple illustrations that work that way. Pagano instead generates binomial probabilities using binomial expansion, but that never grabbed me as an intuitive way to understand the logic of the probabilities.
Take care Jim James M. Clark Professor of Psychology 204-786-9757 204-774-4134 Fax [email protected] Department of Psychology University of Winnipeg Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 2E9 CANADA >>> Rick Froman <[email protected]> 27-Apr-10 9:38 AM >>> I am a little puzzled (and maybe I just read it wrong) but I think that Pagano is fairly unique in that he actually formats his book as Jim suggests, starting with the binomial distribution (and the sign test) as the first inferential test so that students can understand the concept with an easily understood distribution before moving on to t, F and chi square. Maybe Jim just meant that when he doesn't use Pagano, he supplements the probability info after Pagano's pattern. In any case, I would recommend Pagano for that distinctive. Rick Dr. Rick Froman, Chair Division of Humanities and Social Sciences Box 3055 x7295 [email protected] http://tinyurl.com/DrFroman Proverbs 14:15 "A simple man believes anything, but a prudent man gives thought to his steps." -----Original Message----- From: Jim Clark [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 2010 9:29 AM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: Re: [tips] Opinion about a stats text Hi We've used various versions of Pagano here for our one semester (12 weeks) intro stats course and it works well. My impression is that there is not a lot of variation across such books. As for whether it is too "light" depends on what you want to cover and in what depth. We do not cover all of the material in the text in our course. When I have taught the course I sometimes supplement the material on probability, mainly because I like to lay a strong foundation for the binomial distribution to introduce hypothesis testing with a test that students can actually calculate probabilities for different hypothetical outcomes. The later distributions are more mysterious to them, although simulations help (I think). Take care Jim James M. Clark Professor of Psychology 204-786-9757 204-774-4134 Fax [email protected] Department of Psychology University of Winnipeg Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 2E9 CANADA --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13251.645f86b5cec4da0a56ffea7a891720c9&n=T&l=tips&o=2241 or send a blank email to leave-2241-13251.645f86b5cec4da0a56ffea7a89172...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=2245 or send a blank email to leave-2245-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
