How to Design and Report Experiments

a Sussex graduate


Thanks God we have this book   November 2, 2005
 0 out of 1 found this review helpful

Please buy it!! If like me you're a student without a clue of how to deal with experiments, buy this book!!! Andy and Graham's book make things so simple and so funny as well! I love the imaginary experiments that they use to illustrate their arguments.
If you hate statistics and think it is the most boring subject on earth, then read this and you'll think it may not be that bad after all. BUY IT!!
Thank you to the authors, from the bottom of my heart.

A Sussex Graduate.


This book is a godsend   January 20, 2005
 6 out of 6 found this review helpful

I came across this book the other day when I was in a bookshop wading through statistics textbooks, trying to find a decent explanation of a mixed ANOVA. This was the only work (out of at least 12) that used helpful examples and simple phrasing to explain this type of ANOVA in some detail, rather than just saying it's a mixture of other types of ANOVA. I was sufficiently impressed to buy the book and read through it. The authors have produced a lucid and straightforward explanation of experimental design and statistics for the uninitiated. The focus is on psychology reports, but the principles apply equally well to other fields. Some textbooks either explain the statistics in incomprehensible detail, or tell you which buttons to click on in SPSS but then leave you hanging. The authors of this book have struck a good balance, and one of their strengths is their very clear explanation of what these statistics really MEAN, and how to present them (including how to write up the report). Field and Hole have introduced humour to lighten a turgid subject. Others have tried this, and failed. Here the humour was sometimes amusing, and never irritating (which is something). One small criticism: I found Part 3 slightly repetitive, as it included a quick guide to writing up a lab report, as well as running through this point in greater detail. To sum up: I wish I had had a copy before I started writing up my dissertation (or preferably, before I designed my experiment!). This book will be a godsend to undergraduates and Masters' students. Andy Field and Graham Hole, I salute you.