ABSTRACT
Well, here we are. Long pause. Awkward silence. Let’s get one thing out in the open right away: “thrilled” might not be a good description of your mood at this very moment. You are not thrilled to be sitting in front of a book on statistics. Other emotions likely are in play: boredom, trepidation, fear. Maybe not all of these, but if you’re like many students taking a course in statistics, the probability is high that some of these emotions are involved. Any effort I make here to dispel such emotions likely will elicit another set of reactions: skepticism, disbelief, anger at my patronizing tone. I realize it might take me a while to win you over. But I will do my best. Mark my words: at some point, perhaps not right away, but somewhere down the road, you will, perhaps secretly, start to like statistics.
