Author: DAVID M. LEVINE: 

Publisher:  Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc

 ISBN: 0-13-229195-9

Statistics for Six Sigma Green Belts is a hardbound book, comprised of eleven chapters and 4 supplemental appendices.  It is three-hundred and sixty-eight pages in length.

The “learning objectives” are clearly stated at the beginning of each chapter.  This feature is comparable to that employed in many textbooks designed for college classroom use.  However, at a suggested retail price of less than $40, this book costs approximately one-third to one-fourth the cost of a new, contemporary hardbound textbook on, for example, the topic of “introductory statistics.”  Since statistics, per se, is not a topic subject to rapid change, an interested reader could easily supplement this book with a used, two-semester statistics textbook, if desirable, and if viewed as another addition to the reader’s permanent, personal library.  The book is, however, self-contained.  The decision to supplement this book is likely to be optional and not one of necessity.

            Designed to provide users (or “would be” users) of Minitab® and/or JMP® statistical software packages with numerous illustrations of the applications of Six Sigma for each of these “branded” software packages, the illustrations are more than sufficient.  As a long-time user of Minitab®, the thought occurred that this book represents a two-fer, in that (1) those familiar with Six Sigma are likely to find the book useful to assist them in their use of Minitab® and (2) those familiar with Minitab® are likely to find the book useful as a tool to assist and introduce them to Six Sigma.  The same is likely to apply in the case of the JMP® software, though I have not used this product.  However, those with background or experience with SAS®, SPSS® or some alternative statistical software packages could also use this book to “tool up” on the basics of Six Sigma, since prior experience with any statistical software package often provides for an easy transition to an alternative brand, just as one knowledgeable in the use of WordPerfect® (Corel) software might easily adjust to the use of Word® (Microsoft) software.

            Each chapter is supplemented with two appendices, illustrating specific applications under both Minitab® (36 pages) and JMP® (21 pages).  This is in addition to illustrations contained within the body of each of the eleven chapters.

            Engineers without MBAs are likely to spend more time “tooling up” on the applied statistical techniques contained in each chapter, which is likely to represent, for this user group, the introduction of new, applied statistics material.  Engineers with MBAs will require less time to digest the content, and those with undergraduate degrees in business (or comparable levels of practical, applied statistics experience), and statistical software experience with, for example, Minitab®, may be able to read and digest the material in less than one full day.

The author has included selected applied parametric and non-parametric techniques covered in a two-semester undergraduate course in statistics.  (Factorial and fractional factorial design and coverage may represent an exception, but this single exception is likely to prove to be quite manageable by the reader).  Therefore, to the extent that the user has already mastered this undergraduate-level applied statistics coursework, the time commitment required to digest this material is lessened.

            The book is very structured and well-organized.  I recommend this book, both as a learning tool and a permanent, cost-effective addition to any reference library, whether the user is interested in Six Sigma, statistics, the statistical applications of Six Sigma, or applications of Six Sigma using Minitab® or JMP®.

The above review was contributed by:  Anthony (A.J.) Cataldo II.  Dr. Cataldo holds a PhD from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University , MAc ( University of Arizona)  unofficial minor in Marketing , BSBA  (University of Arizona). He is a Certified Management Accountant and a Certified Public Accountant.

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