Anal Bioanal Chem (2010) 397:409–410

DOI 10.1007/s00216-010-3519-9

BOOKS AND SOFTWARE IN REVIEW

Stephen L.R. Ellison, Vicki J. Barwick, Trevor J. Duguid

Farrant: Practical statistics for the analytical scientist.
A bench guide, 2nd ed.
Jürgen W. Einax

Published online: 26 February 2010

# Springer-Verlag 2010

Bibliography make the self-assessment process of the reader faster and

Practical statistics for the analytical
scientist. A bench guide, 2nd ed.
Stephen L.R. Ellison, Vicki J.
Barwick, Trevor J. Duguid Farrant
Royal Society of Chemistry
ISBN: 978-0854041312
Softcover, 268 pages, September
2009, £ 29.95
Book’s topic This second, updated edition of Practical
statistics for the analytical scientist contains essential
statistical methods and applications in analytical science
as well as in analytical quality assurance. The authors
designed a bench guide to help applied scientists and
students. Overall, the aim is to provide scientists with basic
knowledge of statistical methodology where practical,
rather than theoretical, aspects are emphasized. A great
number of well-selected examples illustrate the principles in
statistics and will support daily analytical work. The book
also includes an appendix of questions and solutions which
J. W. Einax (*)
Institut für Anorganische und Analytische Chemie, Lehrbereich
Umweltanalytik, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena,
Lessingstr. 8,
07743 Jena, Germany
e-mail: juergen.einax@uni-jena.de
more efficient.
Contents The short introduction to the book points out
how to choose the proper statistical procedure for an
analytical task and its solution. It gives many useful
cross-references to the following text. In the next three
chapters, the authors introduce the reader to the principles
and methods of basic statistics. First, the authors ground
their readers in important concepts of graphical methods for
data presentation, distribution types of data, descriptive
statistics and hypothesis testing. Then they focus on
important questions such as how to eliminate or to
substitute outliers in data sets and introduce robust
statistical methods as promising techniques.
Chapter 6, entitled “Analysis of variance” (ANOVA),
gives an explanation of one-way ANOVA and two-factor
ANOVA with different arrangements of the data. As one of
the major statistical methods in the analyst’s daily work,
linear regression analysis is explained in the next chapter in
detail. The most comprehensive chapter of the book
describes how to design effective experiments. Different
basic types of experimental design principles are introduced
and discussed. Then, more advanced experimental designs,
such as fractional, optimization and mixture designs, are
described. In the following chapters, analytical quality
assurance is considered under different points of view.
Chapter 9 describes statistical methods for validation of
analytical methods and parameters for characterizing
method performance. This is followed by a brief chapter
on measurement uncertainty. The implementations are
based on the ISO Guide to the expression of uncertainty
in measurement. Analytical quality control using simple
control charts, such as Shewhart and CuSum charts, is the
410
subject of the next chapter. Proficiency testing is one of the
most important instruments in analytical quality assurance
and also accreditation. The authors explain the very
different purposes of proficiency testing procedures. They
introduce the concept of the different types of z scores.
A short chapter on simple sampling strategies concludes
with a qualitative discussion of the different principles of
sampling and the resulting different sampling strategies.
Unfortunately, the authors have placed this important
chapter at the end of the book.
The comprehensive appendix contains selected important
statistical tables, symbols, abbreviations and notations.
Twenty-four topics are presented as questions covering
important fields of analytical practice, including well-
described solutions. Therefore, readers can assess themselves
when planning experiments and analyses or evaluating their
knowledge.
Comparison with existing literature The application of
statistical methods in analytical science has been accompa-
nied by the publication of a number of monographs on
statistics. However, besides the long runners, such as
Statistics for analytical chemistry by Miller and Miller [1]
(five new editions since 1993), the specific objective of
these books is only rarely analytical science.
Massart et al. [2, 3] and Brereton [4] have published
important textbooks of topical interest in chemometrics,
such as on sophisticated methods of advanced statistics (e.g.
multivariate data analysis and statistical modeling). Anyway,
this novel edition of Practical statistics for the analytical
scientist helps successfully to close the gap between good
textbooks about basic statistical methods and their applica-
tion in analytical science. The book is an extension to and
enrichment of existing textbooks, e.g. those by Alfassi et al.
[5], Gottwald [6] and Funk et al. [7].
Critical assessment The second edition of Practical
statistics for the analytical scientist considers important
statistical methods exemplified by many practical problems
and data from analytical science. It can serve likewise as a
useful textbook and as a bench guide. There are few minor
points of criticism. In Chap. 4, homoscedasticity is the
condition of the simple t test; therefore, the F test should be
introduced before explaining the t test. The error of the first
kind is explained but the error of the second kind is only
indicated in this chapter. A detailed description of it follows
in Chap. 8. An earlier introduction and explanation of this
term would be useful for better understanding of the test
philosophy.
J.W. Einax
In Chap. 7, the correlation coefficient as a measure of the
linear relationship should definitely not be applied for
calibration. Concentrations (or contents) are commonly
defined as x values and, hence, fixed in advance in
analytical practice. Consequently, these values are not
random variables. This criticism, however, does not curtail
the good quality of the book. In general, the authors have
attempted and succeeded rather well in writing a textbook
which can be used as a bench guide to basic statistical
methods for both the beginner and the practitioner.
Readership recommendation In conclusion, I strongly
recommend this book to anyone interested in practical
statistics. The book gives an excellent overview of how
statistical methods can be usefully applied in the field of
analytical science. A student preparing to work on his/her
thesis would be well advised to work through some of the
suggested problems. For the expert, this book is an
indispensable reference. The cost–benefit ratio is excellent.
Summary Practical statistics for the analytical scientist is
a valuable addition to one’s library, and it is likely to
become an often-used resource. The individual chapters
provide an excellent introduction to the appropriate statis-
tical procedures and a starting point to access other
references in this important scientific field. The book
encourages the reader to apply statistical methods in his/
her own working field. With well-selected examples, the
authors manage to teach the reader many lessons necessary
for daily life in the analytical laboratory. Overall, this well-
written book is suitable as a daily bench guide for both
students and practitioners.
References
1. Miller JN, Miller JC (2005) Statistics for analytical chemistry.
Horwood, Chichester
2. Massart DL, Vandeginste BGM, Buydens LMC, De Jong S, Lewi
PJ, Smeyers-Verbeke J (1997) Handbook of chemometrics and
qualimetrics: part A. Elsevier, Amsterdam
3. Vandeginste BGM, Massart DL, Buydens LMC, De Jong S, Lewi
PJ, Smeyers-Verbeke J (1998) Handbook of chemometrics and
qualimetrics: part B. Elsevier, Amsterdam
4. Brereton RG (2003) Chemometrics: data analysis for the laboratory
and chemical plant. Wiley, Chichester
5. Alfassi ZB, Boger Z, Ronen Y (2005) Statistical treatment of
analytical data. Blackwell Science, Oxford
6. Gottwald W (2000) Statistik für Anwender. Wiley-VCH, Weinheim
7. Funk W, Dammann V, Donnevert G (2005) Qualitätssicherung in
der Analytischen Chemie, 2nd edn. Wiley-VCH, Weinheim