This is the third edition of the textbook, Inferential Statistics: Hypothesis Testing and Decision¿making, first published in 1995. It has been appropriately renamed Inferential Data Analysis to emphasise the role of statistics as a tool in the research process rather than an end in itself. The approach that is followed in the book could be called a decision¿making approach since it aims to contextualise statistics as a tool when making decisions about hypotheses.This third edition has been revised substantially in terms of content as well as the latest versions of SPSS and Excel. It now includes an overview of basic descriptive statistics, the use of SPSS and Excel, a focus on the most appropriate format for presenting statistical results in a research paper and a section on more advanced multivariate techniques. The new edition also focuses extensively on effect¿size statistics rather than only significance testing."My very well¿thumbed copy of ¿my little green stats bible¿ has been constantly referenced since I bought it in 1996. This book, on its own, helped me overcome my fear of stats..." - former student at the University of the Western Cape, now lecturer at UNISA.