Statistics Book reviews from Reddit
Summary
We analyzed 141 Reddit reviews across 19 subreddits and 56 posts to rank the best Statistics Book brands recommended by redditors, including communities like r/statistics, r/AskStatistics, r/learnmachinelearning, r/datascience, r/rstats. Top-rated brands include Andy Field (4.5/5), Wackerly (4.2/5), Richard McElreath (4.3/5).
Stats
Reviews141
Subreddits19
Posts56
Brands89
Products73
141 reviews from
and
By Brand
/By Product
#1
Andy Field
4.5
(16)
"Andy Field's 5th edition of Discovering Statistics using IBM SPSS is a funny read."
"Field's book is a great suggestion, super approachable yet still takes the time to go into the nitty-gritty; I think it might be my top pick for anyone just getting into statistics."
"Discovering statistics using R by Andy Field."
"Any of Andy Field's books, he explains statistical concepts brilliantly at an introductory level."
"Is brilliant for all of the stuff you mention."
"Prof Andy Field has a huge number of statistics basics online."
"I'm currently reading 'discovering statistics in R' by Andy field. Was recommended by different people to me and I love it!"
"Discovering Statistics Using R by Andy Field. Best intro statistics book ever."
"Andy Field - Discovering statistics using R."
"Andy Fields books are good for social scientists."
#2
Wackerly
4.2
(5)
"For a more practical version with lots of problems: “Mathematical Statistics with Applications” by Wackerly, Mendehal and Shaffer."
"Mathematical Statistics w/ Applications by Wackerly has a pretty strong emphasis on proofs"
"In-depth look at stat theory."
"Go for Wackerly and then 'statistical inference' with Casella."
"Wackerly's Mathematical statistics with applications since it starts from probability theory."
#3
Richard McElreath
4.3
(4)
"I loved Richard McElreath, *Statistical Rethinking: A Bayesian Course with Examples in R and STAN*."
"It's not very mathy, focused on applied stats."
"Is worth a look."
#5
George Casella, Roger L. Berger
4.3
(3)
"Casella and Berger is my recommendation."
"The book I used and liked is George Casella, Roger L. Berger, Statistical Inference."
"Casella and Berger, or Hogg, McKean and Craig."
#6
Casella and Berger
4.3
(3)
"Casella, G. y Berger, R.L. (1990). Statistical Inference."
"If you want more math heavy, then go for Casella and Berger."
"Casella and Berger is usually what you'd use for your first theory course in a stats grad program."
#7
Springer
4.3
(3)
"The book is just a pure work of art -- it manages to distill the essence of mathematical statistics."
"My recommendation is *Generalized Linear Models With Examples in R* by Gordon Smyth and Peter Dunn."
"As well as [Elements of Statistical Learning]"
#8
Lady Tasting Tea
4.0
(3)
"Lady Tasting Tea might be just what you’re looking for."
"The Lady Tasting Tea is an easy casual read on the history of modern statistics."
"My go to recommendation for recreational reading for stats fans is *The Lady Tasting Tea*."
#9
Hogg
4.0
(3)
"Hogg’s Mathematical Statistics (more theory, but good exercises and examples)"
"Mathematical Statistics - Hogg (Calc)"
"Introduction to Mathematical Statistics, Hogg"
#10
Casella & Berger
3.7
(3)
"The classic reference for statistical inference is Casella & Berger’s Statistical Inference. it’s rather approachable if you have knowledge of calculus and linear algebra, but otherwise it might be a bit hard to follow."
"All of Statistics, Hogg Tanis and Rao (intermediate), Casella and Berger (advanced)"
"Once you are advanced you’re going to want to crack open casella & burger, but that book still scares the daylights out of me."
#11
Harvey Motulsky
5.0
(2)
"Is very good - I highly recommend this one."
"For a great beginner's resource on the ***why*** of statistical concepts from a non-mathematical perspective, I recommend Intuitive Biostatistics by Motulsky."
#12
Statistical Rethinking
5.0
(2)
"You probably want this book and set of (free) video lectures https://xcelab.net/rm/statistical-rethinking/"
"This is one of the best I have come across."
#13
Sheldon Ross
5.0
(2)
"Introduction to Probability models by Sheldon Ross."
"I've decided to get the Ross book."
#14
Silver
5.0
(2)
"“Signal and the Noise” was very entertaining and good imo."
"Nate Silver’s (the 538 guy) _The Signal and the Noise._"
#15
Statistical Learning
5.0
(2)
"You may want to use Introduction to Statistical Learning (ISLR/ISLP) as a workbook for ESL."
"An Introduction to Statistical Learning is a good start for a maths background like you."
#16
Introduction to Statistical Learning with R
5.0
(2)
"The ebook is free."
"Introduction to statistical learning with R"
#17
Gelman
5.0
(2)
"My absolute favorites, in no particular order are:"
"‘Bayesian Data Analysis’ by Gelman is a sorta the Bayesian Bible."
#18
Kirkwood and Sterne
4.5
(2)
"It's a classic."
"I like Essential Medical Statistics by Betty Kirkwood and Jonathan Sterne. ... Its quite good for beginners."
#19
Larry Wasserman
4.5
(2)
"For me, All of Statistics: A Concise Course in Statistical Inference by Larry Wasserman was a great read."
"Need a reasonable math background."
#20
Wackerly, Mendenhall, and Scheaffer
4.0
(2)
"Perhaps something like Wackerly, Mendenhall and Scheaffer's *Mathematical Statistics with Applications*."
"Mathematical Statistics with Applications 6th edition by Wackerly, Mendenhall, and Sceaffer."
#21
Wasserman
4.0
(2)
"All of statistics by Wasserman ... Both should have you covered as a refresher."
"Also: Wasserman’s All of Statistics"
#22
Tibshirani
4.0
(2)
"Tibshirani’s Intro to Statistical Learning & Elements of Stat"
"Also check out "An Introduction To Statistical Learning" (ISL) and "Elements of Statistical Learning" (ESL)."
#23
Statistics for Dummies
4.0
(2)
"There is a book titled Statistics for Dummies."
"I recommend: "Statistics for Dummies" and "The cartoon guide to statistics""
#24
O'Reilly
4.0
(2)
"This one is good, reminds me I should probably brush up on my stats, especially Bayesian"
"Found it to be pretty good."
#25
Probably Overthinking It
4.0
(2)
"With apologies for recommending my own book, you might like Probably Overthinking It: [probablyoverthinking.it/](http://probablyoverthinking.it/)"
"I think you'll like Probably Overthinking It!"
#26
OpenIntro
4.0
(2)
"If I had to pick one as an introductory self-study text?"
"OpenIntro Statistics"
#27
Casella
5.0
(1)
"Casella/Berger is spectacular."
#28
Statistical Rethinking by Richard McElreath, 2nd edition
5.0
(1)
"Statistical Rethinking (Richard McElreath, 2nd edition published in 2020)"
#29
Julie Pallant
5.0
(1)
"The book helped me as an undergrad and through my PhD."
#30
McElreath
5.0
(1)
"Highly, highly recommend checking out this book."
#31
Statistics Plain & Simple
5.0
(1)
"Statistics plain & simple"
#32
Udacity
5.0
(1)
"This was a better introduction to statistics than any book I found (they're free):
https://www.udacity.com/course/intro-to-descriptive-statistics--ud827"
#33
MIT
5.0
(1)
"Do a Intro to statistics from MIT as well."
#34
McAlreath
5.0
(1)
"My absolute favorites, in no particular order are:"
#35
Bishop
5.0
(1)
"My absolute favorites, in no particular order are:"
#36
Faraway
5.0
(1)
"My absolute favorites, in no particular order are:"
#37
Elements of Statistical Learning
5.0
(1)
"Elements of Statistical Learning is a great, in depth look at the statistics behind ML."
#38
Kruschke
5.0
(1)
"Kruschke FTW."
#39
Graham
5.0
(1)
"Statistics--A Complete Introduction: A Teach Yourself Guide (Teach Yourself: Math & Science)"
#40
Andrew Gelman
5.0
(1)
"Bayesian Data Analysis and ISLR/ESL remain my favorites for the work I do."
#41
Tufte
5.0
(1)
"For presentation of graphics Tufte's 'The Visual Display of Quantitative Information' is great."
#42
Hossein Pishro-Nik
5.0
(1)
"Hossein Pishro-Niks book is great!"
#43
Charles Wheelan
5.0
(1)
"If you want to have a good idea of the underlying principles (not theory), check out Naked Statistics by Charles Wheelan."
#44
Dennis D Wackerley
5.0
(1)
"But if you really want a good mathematical statistics book, then go for Dennis D Wackerley Mathematical Statistics with Applications. It's super easy to learn."
#45
Blitzstein & Hwang
5.0
(1)
"I'd go with Introduction to Probability by Blitzstein & Hwang."
#46
Richard Larsen
4.0
(1)
"One book I really liked for probably and statistics is called An Introduction to Mathematical Statistics and Its Applications by Richard Larsen."
#47
Cengage
4.0
(1)
"Provides a broad overview of statistical methods for advanced undergraduate and graduate students"
#48
McGraw-Hill
4.0
(1)
"It's a bit on the cookbook-y side of things, but it covers a very wide breadth of topics in regression analysis."
#49
Essentials of Biostatistics
4.0
(1)
"You can check the following book on Biostatistics"
#51
Modern Statistics for Modern Biology
4.0
(1)
"For biology, I would add Modern Statistics for Modern Biology"
#52
John Kruschke
4.0
(1)
"I like John Kruschke's books."
#53
Discovering Statistics by Andy Field
4.0
(1)
"I liked Andy Field's book."
#54
Modern Statistics with R by Måns Thulin
4.0
(1)
"Modern Statistics with R by Måns Thulin was published in 2021."
#55
OpenStax
4.0
(1)
"I would suggest this book: [https://openstax.org/details/books/introductory-statistics/]"
#56
Larsen and Marx
4.0
(1)
"The books I'd recommend based on first-hand experience* are Larsen and Marx's introduction to statistics"
#57
Hogg et al.
4.0
(1)
"Hogg et al.'s book"
#58
Handbook of Spatial Statistics
4.0
(1)
"You can try the Handbook of Spatial Statistics as a good starting point"
#59
Spatio-temporal Statistics
4.0
(1)
"Others I have used over the years are Spatio-temporal Statistics by Wilke et al."
#60
Hierarchical Modelling and Analysis of Spatial Data
4.0
(1)
"Hierarchical Modelling and Analysis of Spatial Data by Banerjee et al."
#61
Walker's book
4.0
(1)
"Walker’s book on his R package tidycensus() has a nice introduction to spatial stats with US census data."
#62
Pevsner
4.0
(1)
"Pevsner's Bioinformatics and Functional Genomics"
#63
Compeau
4.0
(1)
"Bioinformatics Algorithms: An Active Learning Approach by Philip Compeau"
#64
Trosset
4.0
(1)
"I have only good words about it, it was written in a way that I resonated with."
#65
Learning Statistics with R
4.0
(1)
"If you know you'll be using R, this book might help: https://learningstatisticswithr.com/"
#66
Freeman et al.
4.0
(1)
"Freeman et al.: Statistics"
#67
StatQuest
4.0
(1)
"Not a serious probability book, but also get the StatQuest Illustrated Guide for Machine Learning."
#68
ISL
4.0
(1)
"Go for ISL phyton"
#69
Ableson
4.0
(1)
"Statistics as a principled argument by ableson is a great non-mathy treatment focused on statistical thinking"
#70
Westfall and Henning
4.0
(1)
"Has lots of business examples and is at the MBA level."
#71
Agreste & Finlay
4.0
(1)
"I like Agreste & Finlay (2009) *Statistical methods for the Social Sciences*."
#72
Statistics for People Who Hate Statistics
4.0
(1)
"Also one called Statistics for People Who Hate Statistics."
#73
A Dictionary of Statistics and Methodology
4.0
(1)
"And finally: A Dictionary of Statistics and Methodology"
#74
Faraway I
4.0
(1)
"And the Faraway I book if you like to programming at R."
#75
Miller and Freund
4.0
(1)
"Miller and Freunds probability and statistics for engineers. It still pop this one open now and again."
#76
FlowingData
4.0
(1)
"If you're interested in learning data visualization and pick up stats along the way, check out -- Visualize This."
#77
Daniel Lakens
4.0
(1)
"You may find [Improving your Statistical Inferences] by Daniel Lakens useful (free online book)."
#78
Motulsky
4.0
(1)
"For general Biostatistics I'd recommend 'Intuitive Biostatistics' by Harvey Motulsky."
#79
Rosner
4.0
(1)
"I feel like the Rosner book is more readable, but I've used both with students... they got the job done."
#80
Zar
4.0
(1)
"Rosner's *Fundamentals of Biostatistics* and Zar's *Biostatistical Analysis* are both good introductions."
#81
Allen Downey
4.0
(1)
"You might like [Think Stats] by Allen Downey; it is aimed at people coming from a computing background."
#82
Freedman, Pisani, and Purves
4.0
(1)
"Quite a good book is "Statistics" by Freedman, PIsani and Purves."
#83
Schaum's Outline
4.0
(1)
"[Schaum's Outline of Probability and Statistics] is a good review with lots of practice problems."
#84
Joe Best
4.0
(1)
"The book “Damned lies and statistics” by joe best might be a good start."
#85
Kuzma
4.0
(1)
"It's *very* simply written and goes into the basic tenets of probability."
#86
Montgomery
4.0
(1)
"It's a solid book, but nothing spectacular."
#87
The Art of Statistics
4.0
(1)
"I found the Art of Statistics to be a really good book if you want an overview of applied stats."
#88
Statistics for the Behavioral and Social Sciences
4.0
(1)
"Statistics for the Behavioral and Social Sciences: A Brief Course"
#89
David Freedman
4.0
(1)
"I'd really suggest Statistics by David Freedman for a general overview of the subject."
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