Alan C. Acock’s A Gentle Introduction to Stata, Revised Sixth Edition is aimed at new Stata users who want to become proficient in Stata. After reading this introductory text, new users will be able to not only use Stata well but also learn new aspects of Stata.
Acock assumes that the user is not familiar with any statistical software. This assumption of a blank slate is central to the structure and contents of the book. Acock starts with the basics; for example, the part of the book that deals with data management begins with a careful and detailed example of turning survey data on paper into a Stata-ready dataset. When explaining how to go about basic exploratory statistical procedures, Acock includes notes that will help the reader develop good work habits. This mixture of explaining good Stata habits and explaining good statistical habits continues throughout the book.
The focus of the book is especially helpful for those in the behavioral and social sciences because the presentation of basic statistical modeling is supplemented with discussions of effect sizes and standardized coefficients. Various selection criteria, such as semipartial correlations, are discussed for model selection. Acock also covers a variety of commands available for evaluating reliability and validity of measurements.
The revised sixth edition is fully up to date for Stata 17, including updated discussion and images of Stata’s interface and modern command syntax. In addition, examples include new features such as the table command and collect suite for creating and exporting customized tables as well as the option for creating graphs with transparency.