This hands-on guide is primarily intended to be used in undergraduate laboratories in the physical sciences & engineering It assumes no prior knowledge of statistics It introduces the necessary concepts where needed with key points illustrated with worked examples & graphic illustrations In contrast to traditional mathematical treatments it uses a combination of spreadsheet & calculus-based approaches suitable as a quick & easy on-the-spot reference The emphasis throughout is on practical strategies to be adopted in the laboratory Error analysis is introduced at a level accessible to school leavers & carried through to research level Error calculation & propagation is presented though a series of rules-of-thumb look-up tables & approaches amenable to computer analysis The general approach uses the chi-square statistic extensively Particular attention is given to hypothesis testing & extraction of parameters & their uncertainties by fitting mathematical models to experimental data Routines implemented by most contemporary data analysis packages are analysed & explained The book finishes with a discussion of advanced fitting strategies & an introduction to Bayesian analysis