Books for Statistics and SAS
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Books for Statistics and SAS |
There are many good books on both statistics and programming and running SAS. We don't use all of these in my classes, but I require some and recommend others. What books you end up buying and finding useful is up to you. The following is a partial list of books I like. Please let me know about any other you liked and can recommend. You can send me electronic mail at alan@bss1.umd.edu.
This is the mother of all SAS manuals. You can talk the talk and walk the walk, but to program well in SAS this manual is a must. This book, in excruciating detail, explains all SAS commands that work on any platform and that are part of the proc step. And this is all done in a mere 1,088 pages! For anyone thinking of a quantitative career, this is one fo the best $20.95 investments you can make.
This is a companion book to the reference guide that details all the proc step procedures available in base SAS. This manual does not cover advanced statistical procedures. As you might imagine, there are other manuals to cover that!
This two volume set contains all the reference information concerning statistical procedures. in SAS. Again, if you see statistics as part of your career, these are necessary volumes.
This is a complete pocket reference book. It lists most of the large number of SAS programming statements and functions, as well as details all the statistical procedures. Not fo rthe faint of heart, this book provides littleif any detail about anything, simply the syntax required by SAS.
If you purchase the main SAS reference books, or are already comfortable with SAS, this book can be carried back and forth from home to work without breaking your back! It easily fits in a backpack book bag. Given the cost, this is a good book to have to quickly find the syntax you need.
This manual details a large number of data management/manipulation problems with accompanying SAS program code. If you know what you need to do, but not how to write the code, check here. For example, the book shows approximately ten different ways to recode data, each with advantages and disadvantages. This is a book that SAS programmers hope the SAS Institute will update!
This manual describes the purpose of SAS macros, and shows how to use the macro language. Take my word for it, if you program long enough in SAS, knowing macros is essential, and clearly separates the "real" programmers from the poseurs!
The SAS Institute publishes a number of manuals that detail SAS usage under specific operating systems and environments. For many people at the University, you can substitute one or more of the following for the XXX above:
- OS/2
- CMS
- UNIX
- Windoze
These manuals are invaluable in determining naming conventions on the different software platforms, as well as platform specific SAS syntax.
This book uses four chapters to discuss SAS basics,both running and programming. The remaining chapter, five through twenty-one, discuss a large number of the statistical procedures you can use in SAS. There are many programming examples built around some analytic questions raised in each chapter. There is little about statistics in the book, but lots of hand holding on using SAS. This book is required for the 1 credit SAS course SOCY398C/SOCY698C.
This book is quite similar to the book just above. However, it is not as user friendly. This book spends more time on managing data (you do not do much of this in my statistics courses) than statistical procedures. Yet, for the $10 cost, this book cab be quite useful.
This book was written by two psychologists, and it shows in its bias for experimental design. The book was developed from class handouts. In other words, the Professor didn't like the SAS books available, and spent considerable time putting together a large number of handouts.
This book attempts to do many things --teach SAS, statistics, and methods. If you want some additional reading in these areas, this is a good place to start, albeit at an undergraduate level. Be forwarned, the author's biases for experimental design is reflected in devoting five chapters to analysis of variance (ANOVA). We discuss this briefly, but spend much more time developing skills using regression models (which they cover in just one chapter.
There are also many good books on statistics and probability. I do not intend for this list to be exhaustive. Rather, this is just a place to list some additional resources that can help you through any statistics classes you end up taking, and also in using statistics in your professional life. The following are a few of the very best.
These two books are definite keepers for your reference shelf if you are only going to own two statistics books. Blalock is considered a classic, albeit a low-level introduction to statistics. It is extremely well written, keeping the mathematics to a minimum. Yet it covers a wide range of topics, some of them in great detail. You will still see this book cited in the major journals like The American Sociological Review.
The Neter et al. is more advanced. For example, they review virtually all of the material in Blalock in the first 20 pages! This book is one of the best I have seen on the basic linear regression model. After chapter five, matrix algebra is essential. But, by investing in matrix algebra, you will be able to read and understand a huge array of statistical material.
I consider this a companion book to the regression modelling book I use in SOCY602. It is written with the same level of statistical competence, but presents more basic statistical material. Unlike the regression book, this book has an amazing number of examples and work problems, including many that are worked through in complete detail. This book is far easier than the regression text, even though it also covers regression. One very nice feature of the book is how the author's develop the basic concepts used in their regresison book, and use the same statistical notation.
I welcome your comments on this book. I have considered using it for SOCY601. Please let me know what you think of this book and if you believe that it is appropriate for SOCY601.
There are too many books to review each one, but the following list gives you a number of leads to follow for different treatments of regression analysis.
These are some of the books you want to own and understand if you stick it out through advanced studies of statistics.
Even though matrix algebra is required, this book should be read by anyone writing a quantitative dissertation. Even if you cannot follow everything, try reading the first two chapters. The SAS Institute has programmed virtually every test in this book into SAS.
A very tough read. But, considered to be one of the best books on advanced topics in linear modelling. As the title suggests, there is extensive coverage of issues surrounding time-series analysis. Matrix algebra is required.