What is CAST?

CAST stands for Computer-Assisted Statistics Teaching and contains several different textbooks that teach statistical methods. They all take a data-focused approach to the subject and use minimal mathematics.

Unlike conventional textbooks, CAST makes extensive use of interactive diagrams to help explain the statistical concepts. Not only do these interactive diagrams help you to understand statistics, but they also make the ideas more memorable and help to retain interest.

Before starting CAST, you should check that your computer software is recent enough to run it.

Java check CAST contains many interactive diagrams that are written in the Java programming language. Java is also used for the login procedure. Before starting CAST, check that your computer can run these Java programs. (In particular, many versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system do not have adequate Java support.)

Do you see a coloured rectangle on the left? (It may take a minute to appear.)

If it is green, your computer will run CAST. If it is orange, you have a version of Java but it is too old to run CAST. If a green rectangle does not appear, a more recent version of Java must be installed.

If you received CAST on a CD, an installer for a recent version of the Java environment may have been included on the CD. If you do not see a green rectangle above, you should run this installer.

Alternatively, an installer for the most recent Java environment can be downloaded over the internet. Java was developed by Sun Microsystems and you can install Java from their main Java web site -- click the button on the right and follow their installation instructions.
To start CAST If your browser runs a recent enough version of Java, click the button on the right to open the login page. You can bookmark the login page to bypass these checks in future.