Don Macnaughton: Biographical Note

I spent nine years at the University of Toronto taking courses in statistics, experimental psychology, computing, engineering science, teaching, logic, and philosophy. During the seventh year I began statistical consulting for some of my professors. Personal matters forced me to drop out of a Master's program in experimental psychology at York University in 1974.

In 1976, while working for the Council of Ontario Universities, I was asked to perform a statistical analysis to determine if one can predict university students' grades from their high school grades. Because the audience for my report was statistically inexperienced, I wrote an appendix that described, in layman's terms, what had been done in the analysis. Several people remarked that the appendix was interesting and easy to understand. I resolved to turn it into a textbook. Since 1976 I have devoted almost all of my available time to researching and writing the book, including publishing essays about the ideas in the book. The book is slowly nearing completion.

To support my work on the book, I have have held various positions in statistical consulting and computing. If the entity-property-relationship approach gains some acceptance, I shall seek a teaching position at a university.

Introductory Statistics | Sums of Squares in Unbalanced ANOVA | MatStat