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Discovering statistics using SPSS (2nd edition). Andy Field, London: Sage
Publications Ltd 2005 , Pbk £27.99 ISBN 0-7619-4452-4

Article · January 2006

DOI: 10.1348/000709906X100611

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Book reviews 423

thorough in its contents. I do, however, have a couple of mild reservations. Like any book which is
written by a number of discrete authors, there can be a degree of repetition. Thus, on seven
separate occasions there is a reference to the impact of ‘low birth weight’ and the link with
coordination difficulties which did give some of the chapters a rather repetitive tone.
In addition, I was slightly surprised by the way in which ‘sensory integration training’ was
covered, where it was suggested that ‘despite its popularity, there is not much evidence that SIT or
other process-orientated approaches are effective’. It would, therefore, have been helpful to have
a chapter on sensory integration from an advocate of such an approach to redress the balance.
However, a sign of a good book is that you are left wanting more rather than less and I would be
very happy to recommend this text to any professional with a strong belief system in evidence-
based practice who is involved in the assessment and intervention of children or young people
with a diagnosis of DCD.
PETER PARKHOUSE (Associated Psychology and Training Limited, UK [e-mail: peter@associatedpsychology.com])

Discovering statistics using SPSS (2nd edition)

By Andy Field
London: Sage Publications Ltd. 2005. Pbk £27.99, ISBN 0-7619-4452-4

Andy Field’s book on SPSS was a very pleasant surprise, not because it was comprehensive,
competent and assured (although it was all three of these), but because it was also extremely
enjoyable (an oxymoron some might say for a statistics textbook!). I had not read the first edition
(2000) so was new to Andy’s style, which is refreshingly light and encouraging, not the hallowed
ground and hushed tones I have come to expect from many statistics texts. This makes the book
accessible in a way that more traditional texts are not.
The contents include chapters on basic research design, an introduction to SPSS version 13,
exploring data, correlation, linear regression, logistic regression, t-tests, one-way ANOVA,
ANCOVA, factorial ANOVA including repeated measures designs and mixed designs, MANOVA and
exploratory factor analysis. Compared to the first edition, there are also new chapters on non-
parametric statistics and loglinear analysis, and effect sizes are addressed throughout. There are
exercises at the end of each chapter for readers to work through, with datasets and answers on an
accompanying CD. There is also an accompanying website with some PowerPoint slides to
support lecturers and 300 multiple choice test questions for students, automatically presented and
marked, which are a nice touch.
The book can act as a primer for SPSS, but I would not recommend it to my foundation
research methods students, the sheer size (over 750 pages) would be daunting. I feel the pitch of
the book is best for intermediate to advanced users of SPSS, indeed this is perfect as a core text to
support postgraduate students, as well as more experienced researchers, who are exploring
quantitative methods. The book is an excellent general statistics text, with the key advantage of
using SPSS to illustrate the concepts. The chapters on less frequently used procedures, such as
logistic regression and log linear analysis, I found particularly welcome. I also particularly liked the
detailed treatment on the interpretation of interactions effects within ANOVA, an area often only
superficially covered in many other texts. Even though I have been an active user of SPSS for over
20 years I still found the text offered new insights and understandings. In sum, I would thoroughly
recommend this book both to beginning researchers who needs to know how to use a particular
technique, and to established researchers who want to keep up with new developments in
quantitative analysis.
STEVE STRAND (Centre for Educational Development, Appraisal and Research [CEDAR], University of
Warwick, UK)

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