Numerate Leader How to Pull Game-Changing Insights from Statistical Data
Produktdetaljer
Om bidragsyterne
THOMAS A. KING, chair of the Department of Accountancy at Case Western Reserve University, worked for thirty years in various marketing, accounting, and financial roles at Progressive Insurance and, prior to that, worked on the audit staff of Arthur Andersen & Co. in New York. He is the author of More Than a Numbers Game: A Brief History of Accounting. The Numerate Leader is the book he wishes he had been given at the start of his career.
Using a qualitative approach to introduce statistical reasoning, The Numerate Leader: How to Pull Game-Changing Insights from Statistical Data is a cutting-edge book that helps the reader extract information from unfamiliar data sets. Combining introductory statistics with a few ideas from the philosophy of science, this work helps generalists find patterns that may be expected to recur in the future. Identifying one or two such relationships can be a game-changer for the reader and their employer or client.
Thomas A. King's revelatory writing is easy to understand and conversational in tone. King makes the complex, tedious topics that you studied in the classroom—but likely didn't yet understand—easily comprehensible. Historical examples and humorous anecdotes illuminate technical concepts so that readers may pull insights from data sets and then explain conclusions reached through effective storytelling. What's more, the book is fun to read.
A natural teacher, King emphasizes that complex software is unnecessary for success in this field. Readers, however, will find:
- Real-life examples that help put statistical concepts into an understandable context
- A glossary of important statistical terms and their use
- An appendix detailing ten math facts numerate people should know
Perfect for undergraduate and graduate students entering advanced data analytics courses, as well as data analysts and c-suite executives just starting out, The Numerate Leader is key in helping develop the skills to identify provisional relationships between disparate data sets and then assess the significance of conclusions reached.
Preface vii
1. Numeracy 1
2. Zero [0] 13
3. Sample size [n] 25
4. Sample mean [x] 39
5. Sample standard deviation [s] 53
6. Normal distribution [N(x,s)] 67
7. z-score [z] 83
8. Correlation coefficient [r] 97
9. Coefficient of determination [r2] 111
10. Population mean [μ] 121
11. Central Limit Theorem [CLT] 135
12. Standard error [s/√n] 147
13. Null hypothesis [H0] 163
14. p-value [p] 179
15. Slope [r(sY/sX)] 191
16. Causation 205
17. Science 221
18. Questions 231
Appendix A – Glossary 241
Appendix B – Ten math facts numerate people should know 253
References 263
About the author 267
Index 269
Praise for THE NUMERATE LEADER
“I have had the privilege to be coached and mentored by Tom for many years. His love for teaching others and his remarkable ability to bring clarity to complex concepts becomes evident in The Numerate Leader. His vivid real-life examples will provide readers the ability to not only remember statistical concepts but put them to use in their daily lives.”
—Tricia Griffith, President and CEO, Progressive Insurance
“We live in a complex world with high levels of uncertainty. Tom explains how numeracy reveals information to explain what is happening and reasonably predict what might occur. This is the perfect book for anyone who loves numbers, math, learning, history, stories, and humor. Tom has a gift for mixing these ingredients in such a way as to create a completely enjoyable, enlightening, and satisfying experience.”
—Michael O’Grady, President and CEO, Northern Trust
“The Numerate Leader reveals the tools that turn data, observations, and facts into information and insight. In this book, Tom shows the many ways that statistical reasoning enables success and demonstrates key concepts with practical examples. The lessons in this book will improve your chances in sports, business, politics, and life.”
—James A. Engle, CFA, CIC, President, John W. Bristol & Co.
“Tom combines humor with academic rigor to help us understand how to best use data in practical settings. Throughout the book he provides concrete, real-world examples that vividly demonstrate each of his points in this enjoyable and informative read.”
—Jim Cavoli, President, Swagelok Company
“Tom excelled for three decades at Progressive Insurance, one of the top applied statistics firms in the world. If you want a refresher on using statistics in your day-to-day work, why not learn from one of the best?”
—Luke Constable, Founder, Lembas Capital
“Tom has written a witty, thoughtful, must-read book for anyone interested in the investment business by exploring the importance of using data, statistics, and relationships in a meaningful way. He cleverly provides the tools to help answer the key question in data analysis—what is the goal?”
—Nancy Benacci, CFA, former Head of Equity Research, KeyBanc Capital Markets; Board Member, Cincinnati Financial Corporation
In The Numerate Leader, Tom King distills decades of experience of pulling statistical insight from commonly held data into a slender, easy-to-read volume. The author uses a liberal arts approach to explore statistical concepts in an intuitive manner. He argues that a basic understanding of a dozen statistical tools allows generalists to find patterns that may be used to explain the past or predict the future. So armed, readers will be better able to help organizations accomplish their missions.
This book, designed for people who hated statistics in school, revisits topics like sample size, mean, standard deviation, correlation, and p-value to demonstrate how they can be used to help make sense of the messy world around us. Use of anecdotes plus small doses of history and the philosophy of science bring these ideas to life
Neither a hardcore math text nor a “press this button next” software guide, The Numerate Leader strikes a balance between mathematical complexity and everyday practicality. The author offers just enough of the former to ensure that the reader’s understanding is solid enough to reliably apply the concepts discussed within.
With comprehensive and robust explanations of critical statistical concepts, readers will learn hands-on numbers skills they need to make noticeable contributions at work.
Perfect for anyone who has forgotten most of what they learned about statistics in school as well as those who are about to embark on a new undergraduate or graduate class in data analysis, The Numerate Leader is the ideal companion for those seeking to pull concrete and actionable insight from raw data.
Produktdetaljer
Om bidragsyterne
THOMAS A. KING, chair of the Department of Accountancy at Case Western Reserve University, worked for thirty years in various marketing, accounting, and financial roles at Progressive Insurance and, prior to that, worked on the audit staff of Arthur Andersen & Co. in New York. He is the author of More Than a Numbers Game: A Brief History of Accounting. The Numerate Leader is the book he wishes he had been given at the start of his career.