I purchased this book hoping it would help me quickly patch some gaps in my understanding of statistics and Minitab v14. And it will. Most importantly, they get that we don't want to take a course, we just want to know enough to get the work done. --- So the book has enough of an explanation to help the reader figure out whatever their working on. Perfect!
As background, I had quite a bit of training in statistics a few years ago. My job did not require that I use most of it. Now, I'm in a job that does, and I need to get up to speed quickly. I found this book to be a good refresher and reference.
Having been exposed to the different tools, I understand them in general but which do I use? The book has decision grids.
When it comes to using Minitab's menus to apply the theory, what goes where when I'm filling in the blanks - How is the theory applied? Added to that, I used some features of Minitab v13 - but v14 seems to be a whole lot different. The book shows screen shots from Minitab v14 with callouts explaining the fields.
And, how do I interpret the results? The book shows an example with callouts explaining the results. There is also an appendix with detailed (but brief) explanations of interpretations in an easy to read table.
The book is better than Shaums outline on statistics. More relevant than textbooks. More concise than my Six Sigma training binders. Even more applied than Cartoon Guide to Statistics. And, really helps with providing details from the formula used to calculate Sample Size to the number of groups that should be in a histogram and Hypothesis Testing.
Just one thing to note: The book is basically the Six Sigma framework with the references to Minitab & statistical tools as relevant. So, don't be surprised that in the first portion, Minitab examples are few and far in between. Rest assured - they are in there.
So, I'm ditching my thick binders, books of theory, and heavy textbooks and keeping this one close by.