Approach and Features

We have found that the best way to learn JMP is by using it and getting value out of it quickly. Our goal is to present the materials in this book in the most user-oriented approach possible. So, we have made every effort to organize the presentation around the new user's common needs and questions and the most direct and concise means to answer them. We also recognize that the most basic use of data is in generating graphs of data rather than performing more complex statistical analyses. The following features are included for this purpose:

• We present the material with a show-and-tell approach. In most cases, we show you what the results look like alongside the conditions and steps required to produce them. We think this approach is especially useful for JMP users who have a good idea of what they want from JMP and just need the steps to create it.

• When appropriate, we provide an example-driven context for each JMP platform that explains its use, value, and general application to problems. We have tried to distill these contexts down to typical or easy-to-understand cases.

• We organize the contents into easily manageable chunks of information. While the entire book is designed to cover a fairly complete overview of the basics, each chapter or tab represents one family of tasks (such as importing data, creating graphs, and sharing graphs).

• We hope you will keep this book near your computer. Within each chapter or tab, we have designed each page—whenever possible—to be self-contained (beginning and ending a task in a page or page spread), allowing you to quickly find and execute the required steps you're looking for without having to flip pages.

• No matter what your professional background, this book assumes only that you have a basic working knowledge of Microsoft Windows. Virtually all of the information in this book applies to using JMP on the Macintosh operating system, but only the Windows version of JMP is used in the examples.