Making Informed Decisions: Mike Sullivan helps students connect statistical concepts with their everyday lives, teaching them to think critically and make informed decisions.

Putting It Together—found in chapter openers, sections, and exercises—connects concepts from different chapters to show statistics as a whole, rather than a series of disconnected procedures. These are indexed at the beginning of the book for easy reference.
Making an Informed Decision chapter openers pose a question, and then present the statistical concept necessary for prudent decision-making. This feature engages the reader in the statistical-thinking process and highlights the practicality of statistics.
Activities have been updated and moved from the text chapters to their own Student Activities Workbook. Accompanied by an instructor resource guide with suggestions for incorporating activities into the classroom, the new workbooks helps to actively engage students with the material.


Checking Understanding opportunities appear throughout each section and at the end of every chapter for students to test their knowledge.

Explaining the Concepts exercises follow Vocabulary & Skill Building and Applying the Concepts exercises at the end of each section. These new exercises ask the student to go beyond applying the concepts and explain their results in written form.
Preparing for this Section quizzes verify that students have the prerequisite knowledge for the next section, and include page numbers for quick reference.


Practice, Practice, Practice

NEW! Over 350 new and updated Exercises include new emphasis on explaining the results of statistical analysis in students' own words. Answers in the back of the text provide recommended explanations of the statistical results. In addition, exercises have been written to require students to understand pitfalls in faulty statistical analysis.
NEW! Retain Your Knowledge problems help students in recalling skills learned earlier in the course, so that the material is fresh for the final exam. These appear periodically at the end of section exercises.
NEW! Big Data Problems let students analyze data sets with more than 50 observations, which cover tens of thousands of observations with thousands of variables, giving them a taste of professional data analysis.. These problems are marked with an icon and the data is available at www.pearsonglobaleditions.com/sullivan.
Step-by-Step Annotated Examples guide students from problem to solution in three easy-to-follow steps. In this edition, the solutions demonstrate using both by-hand and technology methods, where applicable.
Problem lays out the scenario of the example.
Approach provides insight into the thought process behind the methodology used to solve the problem.
Solution goes through the solution utilizing the methodology suggested in the approach.
“Now Work” problems follow most examples so that students can practice the concepts shown.
NEW! Over 100 new and updated examples keep this text fresh and relevant for today's students.
Case Studies conclude each chapter, promoting active learning and helping students apply their knowledge.
Chapter Review sections include a Chapter Summary, a list of key chapter Vocabulary, and Chapter Objectives with corresponding Review Exercises.
Chapter Tests help students prepare for exams.
Chapter Review answers are available at the back of the book.


Integrating Technology

Technology Step-by-Step guides show how to use StatCrunch®, Minitab®, Excel®, and the TI-83/84 graphing calculator to complete statistics processes.
Data sets are included on the companion website in multiple formats.
Software output screens include displays from Minitab, TI-83/84, and Excel to illustrate exercises and examples where appropriate.
Applets can be used in the classroom or as part of a project featured in the Activity Workbook. Twenty new applets on the companion website allow students to interact with statistical concepts.
Technology Answers are now included where they differ from by-hand answers.
Accompanying Technology Manuals contain detailed tutorial instructions and worked-out examples and exercises for TI-83/84 and 89 calculators and Excel.


MyStatLab™ not included. Students, if MyStatLab is a recommended/mandatory component of the course, please ask your instructor for the correct ISBN and course ID. MyStatLab should only be purchased when required by an instructor. Instructors, contact your Pearson representative for more information.



MyStatLab™ from Pearson is the world’s leading online resource for teaching and learning statistics; it integrates interactive homework, assessment, and media in a flexible, easy-to-use format. MyStatLab is a course management system that helps individual students succeed. It provides engaging experiences that personalize, stimulate, and measure learning for each student. Tools are embedded to make it easy to integrate statistical software into the course. And, it comes from an experienced partner with educational expertise and an eye on the future.

Updated! Videos develop statistical concepts and provide examples. Every objective in the text is accompanied by both by-hand solutions and technology solutions, where applicable. Most Chapter Test problems also have video solutions available.
NEW! Technology Help in MyStatLab provides step-by-step instructions on how to obtain results using StatCrunch, TI-84 Plus/TI-84 Plus C, and Excel. These are marked with an icon.
NEW! The Instructor Resource Guide provides an overview of each chapter, with detailed points to emphasize within each section, plus suggestions for presenting the material. The guide also provides examples that may be used in the classroom.
Chapter Test Videos are available for each chapter test problem in complete, worked-out video solutions either solved by hand, using the TI-84C, or StatCrunch.
Applets can be used in the classroom or as part of a project featured in the Activity Workbook. Twenty new applets on the companion website allow students to interact with statistical concepts.
Technology Answers are now included where they differ from by-hand answers.
Accompanying Technology Manuals contain detailed tutorial instructions and worked-out examples and exercises for TI-83/84 and 89 calculators and Excel.
StatCrunch™: MyStatLab integrates the web-based statistical software, StatCrunch, within the online assessment platform so that students can easily analyze data sets from exercises and the text. In addition, MyStatLab includes access to www.StatCrunch.com, a vibrant online community where users can access tens of thousands of shared data sets, create and conduct online surveys, perform complex analyses using the powerful statistical software, and generate compelling reports.
NEW! Learning Catalytics™ Integration: MyStatLab now includes Learning Catalytics, an interactive student response tool that uses students’ smartphones, tablets, or laptops to engage them in more sophisticated tasks and thinking. Now included with MyLab & Mastering with eText, Learning Catalytics enables you to generate classroom discussion, guide your lecture, and promote peer-to-peer learning with real-time analytics. Instructors, you can:
Pose a variety of open-ended questions that help your students develop critical-thinking skills.
Monitor responses to find out where students are struggling.
Use real-time data to adjust your instructional strategy and try other ways of engaging your students during class.
Manage student interactions by automatically grouping students for discussion, teamwork, and peer-to-peer learning.