This book is intended for use in an applied introductory statistics course. As in this edition, the principles of both descriptive and inferential statistics are discussed and illustrated in situations that are close to most student’s own experience. Students with a background limited to basic algebra will be able to complete the necessary mathematical calculations. The chapters in the text are organized according to several criteria, including the analytical goals of description versus inference, the level of measurement, and the number of variable to be analyzed. The introductory chapter concentrates on the basic concepts and procedures of applied statistics for librarians. The remainder of the text is divided into several parts each devoted to applied statistics that are designed for particular tasks. The textbook is organized chapter by chapter with each chapter containing exercises and answers at the end. Part I deals with the nature of library science research, briefly overviews each of the six methodologies discussed later in the text, and presents an overview of library science research process. Part II introduces the basic concepts and procedures that must be understood before one can engage in the research intelligently. This part includes an understanding of variables, definitions, validity, reliability, sampling, instrumentation, data collection and analysis. These and other concepts are covered thoroughly, clearly and relatively simply. The emphasis throughout is to show students, by means of clear and appropriate examples, how to set up a library science research study in a library setting on a question of interest and importance. Part III explains and illustrates the methodologies commonly used in library science research. Many key concepts presented in Part II are considered again in these chapters, in order to illustrate their applications to each methodology.
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