Publisher: Bridge Software, 36 Fernwood, Marple Bridge, Stockport, Cheshire SK6 5BE.
Memory: 16K
Price: £6.90

Star gazers might be familiar with Bridge Software, publishers of the much acclaimed Night Sky program. Also included in the range is Statistics I, which consists of two programs. The first produces simple statistics for data arranged in groups. The second performs analyses of data in pairs.

There are four main options for the grouped data program. Those allow data entry and deletion, summary statistics, uncorrected test and analyses of variance.

Data entry is relatively easy, with each group of data given a name before the data is entered. Up to 10 groups can be used at a time. The last piece of data entered is shown on the screen, and can be corrected at any time until the next piece of data has been entered, or data entry abandoned.

In what is a major omission there is no opportunity to list, examine or alter data once past that point, although it is possible to delete a whole group of data if something is wrong.

The three statistical options all produce analyses quickly but lack the sophistication of other programs. Statistical tables are still required to look up the results. The screen layout gives the results in a straightforward, no frills, manner.

The program would not include all 10 groups in the analyses of variance, despite it shown as a possibility.

In the paired data only one set can be entered at a time. Entering a new data name automatically overwrites the old set. The same criticism applies to seeing and correcting data in the grouped data program also applies.

The manual claims that the program is crash proof. On occasion, however, extra large numbers or a mixture of numbers and text both stopped the program.

The claims for user friendly programs are over-exaggerated, but as the programs do not do a great deal they cannot help but be user friendly.