Mathematical Statistics with Applications

I used this textbook in an introductory probability class taught by an outstanding biostatistics professor who has used this edition since publication in 2008. The professor’s very well developed class notes were the most important resource. Wackerly’s text book was an excellent adjunct, especially because of the homework problems. The problems ranged from direct takeoffs from examples in the chapter, to difficult problems that introduced new principles as extensions of the chapter material. The professor posted homework answer keys with solutions, so the homework was valuable.Be cautious if you buy the international versions of this book. Although the chapter material is supposed to be the same and the international paperback costs substantially less, the order/numbering is slightly different for some homework problems. My professor pointed out the numbering discrepancies for our assigned problems, but a less experienced lecturer may not be aware of this.Order the book as early as possible. I ordered on the 1st day of class and got the hard copy edition, but many classmates had to order the paperback from other sources.

Good book will use it for my math class in vet tech school

I've read a lot of statistics books, and most of them are poorly written. Their explanations are limited and often obscure. Their assumptions often go un-mentioned. That applies both to lower-level "statistical methods" books and higher-level theoretical books about mathematical statistics.This book stands far above the pack. It explains concepts and techniques clearly, completely, and with all the steps included. I wish that I had started with this book instead of struggling, painfully and at great length, with the others.One problem: I've been reading this book in the Kindle software for my iPod Touch. In the Kindle edition, some parts of the text are missing: not whole pages, but a paragraph or two here and there. Because I don't have the printed book (though I might spend the extra money to buy the printed version, too: this book is that good), I can't be sure if the omissions are just a problem in the Kindle edition. However, it seems like a reasonable assumption.I would give this book a full five stars except for the problems in the Kindle edition. It's outstanding. I want to marry this book. :-)

Remember, folks: mathematical statistics is much deeper and more conceptual than the plug-and-play that is sophomore-level intro statistics. If you don't have a mathematical background, then this book (and in all honesty, a mathematical statistics course) is NOT for you.I first encountered this book while working at the Federal Trade Commission (i.e., not in an academic setting), and found it so clear and easy to understand that I bought a copy for myself. I will concede that you can't come at this book without an understanding of at least integral calculus (and since so many people get turned off by Algebra, well...), so I suspect a lot of the negative reviews here are written by people who jumped in the deep end of the pool without having a few swimming lessons. If you know the calculus and basic set theory, the book is exceedingly easy to follow.I wholly recommend this book, provided you have the prerequisite skills necessary to use it.

Theorems & formulas that aren't clearly explained, at all.Too much condensing complex info into a Greek formula you'll memorize for a test and then immediately forget.Written in needlessly opaque, academic language (but what else would you expect?)."Indeed, if a sample space 'S' contains N equiprobable sample points, and an event 'A' contains exactly n-sub-a sample points, it is easily seen that P(A) = n-sub-a/N."Now, that's not too terribly hard to follow, but you probably have to read it twice, and what it's telling you to DO is not at all clear."If you have a total number (N) of equally possible outcomes, and some event A contains a subset of the total, the probability of 'A' happening is a ratio: 'number of outcomes in A' divided by the 'total number of outcomes'."That's not a whole lot longer, but to me the plain language & dropping confusing notation is much easier to understand.Want to explain a theorem or proof w/the variables & symbols? Fine - but if you can't explain it w/o them, you're not helping anyone.The entire book is like this, and it's more than 800pgs long.Cost is outrageous; typical of textbook publishers whose mission is to charge as much as humanly possible for what amounts to a list of homework questions, because you have to go watch YouTube or Khan Academy videos to actually understand what is going on.One of the authors' stated goals was to offer lots of example problems.They certainly succeed in volume (Ch. 2 alone has 181 problems!).The answers are, at least, provided in the back, but the worked examples in the text are somewhat lacking.And since you can't easily pull an explanation out of the text or theorems, it's kind of useless without a class & a teacher.Not even at the calculus parts yet - only covered the "easy" sections, which are rendered inaccessible by convoluted prose.Can't wait to see how bad it is when it's trying to 'teach' stuff I haven't seen before.

This is better than our first textbook. Easy to understand

clear concise and thorough. the topics are traditional but done in an intuitive way. there is formalism but a decent balance.