Margin of Error Media

Rigorous, accessible books on statistics, data analysis, and analytics by Vivek H. Patil, Ph.D.

Margin of Error Media

Rigorous, accessible books on data, statistics, and analytics. Written for people who want to think clearly about evidence, not just run formulas.

The Books

Margin of Error cover
Available Now

Margin of Error

Statistics for a World That Needs Better Decisions

Every chapter opens with a real story — the Flint water crisis, Facebook's mood experiment, the resume discrimination study. Twelve case studies, eight interactive tools, twelve downloadable datasets, and complete R code walkthroughs for every chapter. Statistics taught as reasoning, not ritual.

Print: $39.99    Kindle: $14.99

Run the Numbers cover
Forthcoming

Run the Numbers

Data Analysis with R and the Tidyverse

A practical introduction to data analysis in R — from importing and wrangling data to visualization and reproducible reporting. Built around the tidyverse, with code you can run in the browser.

Good Data Starts Here cover
Forthcoming

Good Data Starts Here

Survey Design for Business Professionals

A concise guide to writing surveys that produce usable data — question design, measurement, sampling, and the mistakes that quietly ruin results.

Evidence First cover
Forthcoming

Evidence First

Business Research Methods from Problem to Report

The complete research process — from formulating a question to writing up findings. For graduate students and working analysts who need studies that hold up to scrutiny.

Make It Visible cover
Forthcoming

Make It Visible

Visual Analytics and Data Storytelling

Data visualization from first principles — perception, design, interactivity, geographic mapping, dashboards, and the ethics of showing data honestly.

Why These Books Are Different

Stories first, formulas second. Every book opens with real cases where the methods changed what people believed. The tools serve the story, not the other way around.

Interactive tools you won’t find elsewhere. Purpose-built Shiny applications let you explore concepts by changing inputs and watching what happens. These are not animations — they are instruments you control.

Built for thinking, not memorizing. No prerequisite arms race. No formula sheets to cram. Each book teaches its subject as a mode of reasoning you will use long after the course ends.

About the Author

Vivek H. Patil, Ph.D. is a Professor of Marketing at Gonzaga University with over two decades of experience in research and teaching. He has taught business analytics, data visualization, marketing research, survey design, and multivariate statistics. He founded Margin of Error Media to publish the kinds of books he wished existed when he started teaching — rigorous but accessible, grounded in real stories, and paired with tools that make abstract ideas concrete.


Five books. Each one stands on its own. Together, they cover the quantitative skills business professionals use most.