Discovering Statistics Using R

by Andy Field, Jeremy Miles, Zoe Field

The R version of Andy Field's hugely popular Discovering Statistics Using SPSS takes students on a journey of statistical discovery using the freeware R. Like its sister textbook, Discovering Statistics Using R is written in an irreverent style and follows the same ground-breaking structure and pedagogical approach. The core material is enhanced by a cast of characters to help the reader on their way, hundreds of examples, self-assessment tests to consolidate knowledge, and additional website material for those wanting to learn more.

Genres: Mathematics, Science, Textbooks, Reference, Nonfiction, Psychology, Academic

993 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 5, 2012

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

[Evolk · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not your average book on stats - this is literature! There are very few books that made me laugh so hard and helped me learn so much.

[Julia · Rating 2 out of 5]

“I wish it had less jokes and more math.”
I really didn’t expect to feel like this about anything in my life :)

[Malcolm Bastien · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everything was super clear in the book, but near the end the chapters started getting difficult. I had some trouble understanding bits at the end of the MANOVA chapter, and I had to give up on the section about Exploratory Factor Analysis completely. After that, things just didn't feel as concrete to me.

Overall pretty damn good and clear considering how much content there is in the book. I'm glad I choose this one to read.

[Igor Surjan · Rating 5 out of 5]

6

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't normally like to review books if I've not fully read them, but I'll make an exception here given that it's not the sort of book that is intended to be read from cover to cover. Like thousands of other psychology students, Andy Field's Discovering Statistics Using SPSS was the textbook that my undergraduate statistics modules were based around, and I always found it to be very accessible. As such, when I made the recent decision to ditch SPSS and try to teach myself R instead, Field's textbook was my first port of call.

I've only had it for a few weeks, but I'm convinced enough to say that Discovering Statistics Using R is a valuable resource which should be on the shelf of every social science researcher, particularly those who don't have a strong background in mathematics. To use a quick anecdote as an example, for weeks before purchasing this textbook I had been struggling with the topic of multilevel linear modelling. I tried different journal articles and book chapters, all of which claimed to be aimed at the novice reader, and I quickly found myself drowned in mathematical jargon that I couldn't understand. However, within a few hours of reading Field's chapter on the topic, I started to feel much more confident. His unique appeal is that he admits (or at least pretends) to being as clueless about statistics as the reader, so you're set at ease if you're finding the topic difficult. Slowly, he explains difficult statistical concepts in the simplest possible way that provides the reader with enough knowledge to perform different statistical tests competently, with a hefty dose of dad jokes along the way. I daresay the style might wear a bit thin for the advanced reader who wants a more serious discussion on quantitative research methods, but for the rest of us, this is golden. 8/10

[Mallory · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a former math-hater-turned-math-poser before I read this book. Have you ever had a textbook that you ENJOYED reading?
Nope?
That's because you've never read anything by Andy Field. My book took it's sweet time to ship to my house last year (when I took statistics and used the book), so I flipped through my friend's copy in the meantime. I was captivated by it that I checked Amazon about 27 times a day to see if the tracking information had changed.
When it FINALLY arrived, my first read through was for fun while the second read through was to actually learn the stuff. After my thesis fell through and I had to quickly find another one, I was confident in my statistics ability -okay, it wasn't ALL the book, I had a really great teacher as well - that I decided to make my thesis statistics based. Not bad for a former math-hater...

[Siobhan · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I saw Discovering Statistics Using R on my class reading list, I died a little bit inside. It’s not the topic, merely the author. I had horrific flashbacks to Discovering Statistics Using IBM SPSS Statistics. Needless to say, I was not looking forward to more of Andy Field’s juvenile ‘humour’.

My reaction to this book, was much like my reaction to the SPSS book when it was on my reading list at undergraduate level – the fact it seems to be aimed at teenage boys prevented me from focusing upon the factual information. I’m sure many will find it useful, but I cringe at the thought of any more Andy Field penis joke books appearing on my reading list…

Honestly, there are plenty of statistics and R books out there that release there is more to life than what is below the stomach and above the knees…

[Marcie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book has 19 chapters, but I only read the first 8 chapters and chapter 15, as these sections covered the topics I needed. Although I used the book for statistical analysis in Python instead of R, the information and concepts it provides are applicable to any programming language that you are familiar with. The book explains statistical theories and methods in a clear and easy-to-understand way, which made learning the material more enjoyable.
It’s not just a one-time read—I keep coming back to it whenever I have a question or need to review a concept. Whether you're new to statistics or just need a refresher, this book is a great reference that helps build a solid understanding of the subjuect.
Btw, you should not miss out the author's (Andy Field) youtube channel! :D

[Jacob Mota · Rating 5 out of 5]

No better desk reference for both R and stats!

[sherly maria · Rating 1 out of 5]

1 star because animal abuse will never be a "quirky funny example" to me

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did I discover statistics using R? Absolutely. Can I whip out mad stats and codes like a pro? Certainly not. But I have learned so much from this for my current class and it's going to help me a ton for my upcoming dissertation. Field's humor is the reason my sanity is still intact.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

As elsewhere I have to flag that I really do not like stats so my review will be tarred by this a little bit (maybe not significantly but just in case). I did find the theoretical aspects of this book a little hard to follow, partly because the example used didn't grab my interest and partly because it didn't completely match up with what I was being taught. That aside though, I did find it very useful in figuring out what R code to use for various things and I suspect as I go along and use R more then this will become increasingly useful, or at least the sections I need will anyway.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although I was not entirely thrilled that I had to read it at first (I decided to take a statistical analysis module that involves using R Commander), it quickly became my bible! For someone that didn't do A Level maths, it was easy to follow, especially when relating the maths to the coding in R! Plus, it was written with a light-hearted tone that took away from the contents daunting nature. Sometimes it made me cringe, but I think that was the intention, to make degree level statistics...fun?

[Gallottino · Rating 5 out of 5]

Libro strepitoso di statistica sperimentale con l'ausilio del software open source R.
Una penna esilarante, dalla teoria centrale del limite alla GLM, all'analisi multivariata di varianza passando per gli studi fattoriali e a tutti i test parametrici e non parametrici.
Esempi divertentissimi e accurata disamina di tutti i test statistici a partire dalla regressione multipla, una bibbia irriverente e competentissima per un grande docente.
Persino l'assunto di sfericitá e la PCA con tutta l'analisi dei residui è chiarissima.
Forse un libro non per tutti ma per veri appassionati sicuramente si.
1000 pagine di statistica irrinunciabili.
Anche se tutti gli esempi poggiano sulle scienze psicologiche è facilmente adattabile alla biologia e alla medicina

[Yi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This tutorial is at least easy to read and focused on real-life application. These qualities beat most tutorials I could find. There are, however, some shortcomings.

In the chapter about plotting graphs, it teaches long and inefficient commands such as ggplot() + stat_summary(...) + stat_summary(...). I'm not sure if this is the only way, but it's frustrating having to type this every time, yet people say R is easy to use. In the section about plotting histograms, it omits simple commands like hist() in favor of ggplot() + geom_histogram(). Edit: ggplot2 , despite the long commands, is a versatile and popular tool. I retract what I said.

Still, it doesn't teach how to create a frequency table and chart, the bunch of apply() functions, or how to create a function.

Its structure is also somewhat messy. I frequently forget where I read a certain command, and have to look for it for a long time. Basic functions of R surely are more than this book covers, and I wish it could expand on these more. I also feel R tutorials and theoretical statistics should be separated into two books.

Still, it offers a rather accessible resource pool for statistical applications of R, and I learned quite a lot of new but basic commands like factors, reshaping data, and drawing colorful graphs.

[Sorrowka · Rating 5 out of 5]

How can statistic be this fun? I would say, "Andy Field, that's it"!
Lol I never ever be enthusiastic to read words to words and still enjoy every tidbit. Not only that, he also makes the formula of the statistic more rational and make sense, and offer some challenges if you're an advanced. Good job Andy, you're the inspiration we're looking for all this time!

This book is a saving grace upon the frustration of unworking codes and lack of the fundamental knowledge.

[Lali · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why is my evil lecturer forcing me to learn about statistics? This was not only my own thought the first two semesters of university, but also the beginning of this book.
This was the first (and most certainly the last) book about statistics that made me laugh multiple times and that not (only) because of my own stupidity.
It was worth every cent I spent on it!

[Klaus · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book people are gonna love or hate because of the informal, somewhat immature style (more elaborated on in some of the negative reviews), but this one and the SAS version were pretty useful in at least getting a footing in the respective programs. You'll know pretty quick if it's a book for you or not though.

[Esben · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to give this book a higher rating, because I actually did find it quite useful for learning R. However, too much of the code examples has become outdated. So you have to spend some time figuring out, why your code doesn’t work and finding the updated ways of writing the functions. Therefore, only 3 stars.

[Ali Bezzaa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This stuff is great. The best book on statistics. Professor field has the ability to explain complex concepts with simple words. And with some jokes on the way, it's fun to read. I wish he can publish a newer version since some packages used with R are archieved.

[Sz · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much packed into this book!

[Christopher Osborne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book helped me fall in love with statistics. It's very easy to digest and surprisingly funny!

[Ruth M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

As with Discovering Statistics Using SPSS, this book is easy to understand and follow. Highly recommend!

[A J · Rating 5 out of 5]

The easiest book to understand statistics with R so far! Plus, some dad jokes 🤣

[Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh had to use and read for class

[Ehsan Amini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply the best statistics and R book ever. You should not loose a single page of this book. Thanks Andy Field for this great book.

[Bookish Hedgehog · Rating 1 out of 5]

TL;DR: Skip the book. Bloated, meandering text that could’ve definitely benefited from more editorial oversight. At roughly 1,000 pages, it is stuffed with jokes and asides, but there's too little content about statistics. (Full disclosure: I gave up before finishing the book).

I knew success goes to people’s heads. But in this case, the author of a famous textbook seems to have mistaken the vagaries of market for popular interest in his personality and childhood. Apart from a rambling, incontinent prose littered with juvenile jokes, there are too many uninteresting pictures and tidbits about the author’s biography.

My biggest grievance, however, was with the approach. There is too little material covered. And the creators confused retaining students’ attention (often with cheap antics, bad jokes, and dead puns) with somehow a novel form of pedagogy. For instance, instead of deriving a formula or explaining how it works, you'll just find desperate attempts at humour, before we move on to the next formula. And, sometimes, a line gets repeated verbatim a dozen times, almost as a caricature of Skinnerian methods.

I always knew the market is saturated with never-ending new editions of near-identical, low-quality textbooks. But this book really left its mark.

[Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you ever loved a textbook, or laughed at every few pages? If you haven't, read this book. (Preferably with a little bit of background in stats.) This book was a life-saver while I was writing my postgrad thesis and needed to code my analysis, charts, and results in R. It's easy to read, and the humour took some edge off the "toughness" of the material. He and co-authors (Jeremy Miles and Zoe Field) also provided additional "titbits" that were pitched at varying levels of knowledge: noob, all the way to know-it-all. Highly recommended.

[Hussain · Rating 1 out of 5]

The first few chapters summarizing statistics are great, but then when the book gets to the R environment in chapter 3, things get complicated. I stopped there as I was spending too much time dealing with errors in entering commands. I wondered if it was worth the time and effort to learn R when SPSS is available and makes analyzing much easier. I decided to stick with SPSS.

[Hadoola0 · Rating 5 out of 5]

By far this is my favorite statistics book for SPSS ( especially when I am not a fan of statistics), easy to comprehend and it is actually step-by-step kinda book. the author got a website where he also posts some solutions and videos of how to preform some of the tests.