This practical text provides students with the statistical tools needed to analyze data, and shows how statistics can be used as a tool in making informed, intelligent policy decisions. The authors' approach helps students learn what statistical measures mean and focus on interpreting results, as opposed to memorizing and applying dozens of statistical formulae. The book includes more than 500 end-of-chapter problems, solvable with the easy-to-use Excel spreadsheet application developed by the authors. This template allows students to enter numbers into the appropriate sheet, sit back, and analyze the data. This comprehensive, hands-on textbook requires only a background in high school algebra and has been thoroughly classroom-tested in both undergraduate and graduate level courses. No prior expertise with Excel is required. A disk with the Excel template and the data sets is included with the book, and solutions to the end-of-chapter problems will be provided on the M.E. Sharpe website.

Deflections tend to have more significance in modern structures, especially those that are either taller, longer or have wider spans than earlier designs. It is also necessary to provide desirable distributions of internal forces in order to achieve effective, efficient and elegant structures. This book presents four structural concepts relating to deflections and internal forces in structures. It demonstrates a number of routes and physical measures together with their implementation for creating desirable distributions of internal forces and for designing structures against deflection. Hand calculation examples, with and without using the implementation measures, are provided to quantify the effectiveness and efficiency of the structural concepts. Practical examples, including several well-known structures, are considered qualitatively to illustrate the practical implementation of the structural concepts and show their structural rationale. The book is especially suitable for advanced undergraduate and graduate students studying civil engineering or architecture and should enhance the holistic comprehension of structural engineers and architects. Features Develops the concepts from their principles through to their implementation Provides worked examples in pairs and analyses real structures Especially suits final year undergraduates and graduate students in structural engineering Author Bio Dr. Tianjian Ji, CEng, FIStructE, FHEA, is Reader in Structural Engineering at the University of Manchester, UK. He received the Award for Excellence in Structural Engineering Education from the Institution of Structural Engineers, UK, in 2014 and the Teaching Excellence Award from the University of Manchester in 2016. He is the primary author of Understanding and Using Structural Concepts, 2nd edition, also published by Taylor & Francis.