Probability and Statistical Inference. Robert Bartoszynski
first published 2021
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Library of Congress Cataloging‐in‐Publication Data
Names: Niewiadomska‐Bugaj, Magdalena, author. | Bartoszyński, Robert,
author.
Title: Probability and statistical inference / Magdalena
Niewiadomska‐Bugaj, Robert Bartoszyński.
Description: Third edition. | Hoboken, NJ : Wiley‐Interscience, 2021. |
Revised edition of: Probability and statistical inference / Robert
Bartoszyński, Magdalena Niewiadomska‐Bugaj. 2nd ed. c2008. | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020021071 (print) | LCCN 2020021072 (ebook) | ISBN
9781119243809 (cloth) | ISBN 9781119243816 (adobe pdf) | ISBN
9781119243823 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Probabilities. | Mathematical statistics.
Classification: LCC QA273 .B2584 2021 (print) | LCC QA273 (ebook) | DDC
519.5/4--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020021071
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020021072
Cover Design: Wiley
Cover Images: (graph) Courtesy of Magdalena Niewiadomska‐Bugaj, Colorful abstract long exposure pictures © Artur Debat/Getty Images
To my parents
– MNB
Preface to Third Edition
You have in front of you the third edition of the “Probability and Statistical Inference,” a text originally published in 1996. I have been using this book in the classroom since then, and it has always been interesting to see how it serves the students, how they react to it, and what could still be done to make it better. These reflections prompted me to prepare a second edition, published in 2007. But academia is changing quickly; who the students are is changing, and how we should teach to help them learn is changing as well. This is what made me consider a third edition. The response from Wiley Publishing was positive and my work began.
There were three main changes that I saw as necessary. First, adding a chapter on the basics of Bayesian statistics, as I realized that upper level undergraduate students and graduate students needed an earlier introduction to Bayesian inference. Another change was to make the book more appropriate for the flipped classroom format. I have experimented with it for three years now and it is working quite well. The book introduces and illustrates concepts through more than 400 examples. Preparing the material mainly at home gives students more time in class for questions, discussion, and for problem solving. I have also added over 70 new problems to make the selection easier for the instructor. A third change was including an appendix with an R code that would help students complete projects and homework assignments. My two‐semester class based on this text includes three projects. The first one –in the fall semester–has students present applications of selected distributions, including graphics. Two projects for the spring semester involve resampling methods. The necessary R code is included in the appendix.
There are many people to whom I owe my thanks. First, I would like to thank Wiley Editor Jon Gurstelle, who liked the idea of preparing the third edition. After Jon accepted another job elsewhere, the book and I came under the excellent care of the Editorial Teams of Mindy Okura‐Mokrzycki, Kathleen Santoloci, Linda Christina, and Kimberly Monroe‐Hill who have supported me throughout this process. I would also like to thank Carla Koretsky, the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Western Michigan University, and WMU Provost, Sue Stapleton, for granting me a semester‐long administrative sabbatical leave that significantly sped up the progress of the book.
I am indebted to several of my students for their valuable comments. I am also grateful to my departmental colleagues, especially Hyun Bin Kang and Duy Ngo, who used the text in class and gave me their valuable feedback. Hyun Bin also helped me with the formatting of the R code in the appendix. Finally, I thank my husband, Jerzy, for his support and encouragement.
MNB
November 2020
Preface to Second Edition
The first edition of this book was published in 1996. Since then, powerful computers have come into wide use, and it became clear that our text should be revised and material on computer‐intensive methods of statistical inference should be added. To my delight, Steve Quigley, Executive Editor of John Wiley and Sons, agreed with the idea, and work on the second edition began.
Unfortunately, Robert Bartoszyński passed away in 1998, so I was left to carry out this revision by myself. I revised the content by creating a new chapter on random samples, adding sections on Monte Carlo methods, bootstrap estimators and tests, and permutation tests. More problems were added, and existing ones were reorganized. Hopefully nothing was lost of the “spirit” of the book which Robert liked so much and of which he was very proud.
This