Elementary stochastics. An introduction to the mathematics of data and randomness. (Q1769771)

This book provides a well-written introduction to probability theory and statistics. It is primarily addressed to teachers students. The text is structured in four main parts. The first part presents an introductory account of some of the most important topics of descriptive statistics. Starting with a discussion of topics of data acquisition, the authors introduce important properties of data sets, such as mean, median or quantiles, and explore the limits of descriptive statistics. In the second part, the authors outline the basic principles of probability calculus using a multitude of examples and historic considerations. It contains all major topics that usually belong to an introducing university course. The third part is devoted to judging statistics, namely parameter estimation, hypothesis tests and Bayesian statistics. Finally the last part gives an overview on applications of stochastic methods in the empirical research. This book comprises many examples and illustrations. These as well as a total of 82 exercises and their solutions help students to easier gain insight into the statistical concepts and techniques covered in the book.