Includes bibliographical references and index.

Online resource; title from PDF title page (ScienceDirect, viewed July 5, 2016).

Title page; Table of Contents; Copyright; Preface to the Third Edition; Chapter 1: Introduction; Abstract; Chapter 2: Some basic statistical concepts; Abstract; Populations; Lots and samples; Average sample populations; Statistics and parameters; The central limit theorem; Chapter 3: Frequency distributions; Abstract; Types of frequency distribution; Statistical probability; The binomial distribution ([delta]2[tau]); Relationships between the frequency distributions; Transformations.

Chapter 4: The distribution of microorganisms in foods in relation to samplingAbstract; Random distribution; Regular distribution; Contagious (heterogeneous) distributions; Effects of sample size; Chapter 5: Statistical aspects of sampling for microbiological analysis; Abstract; Attributes and variables sampling; Binomial and trinomial distributions; Precision of the sample estimate; Acceptance sampling by attributes; Acceptance sampling by variables; Some statistical considerations about drawing representative samples; Addendum.

Chapter 6: Errors associated with preparing samples for analysisAbstract; Laboratory sampling errors; Calculation of the relative dilution error; Effects of gross dilution series errors on the derived colony count; Chapter 7: Errors associated with colony count procedures; Abstract; Specific technical errors; Pipetting and distribution errors; Limiting precision and confidence limits of the colony count; General technical errors; Comparability of colony count methods; Overall error of colony count methods; Chapter 8: Errors associated with quantal response methods; Abstract.

Dilution series and most probable number countsMultiple test dilution series; Special applications of multiple-tube dilution tests; Other statistical aspects of multistage tests; Chapter 9: Statistical considerations of other methods in quantitative microbiology; Abstract; Direct microscopic methods; Indirect methods; Chapter 10: Measurement uncertainty in microbiological analysis; Abstract; Accuracy, trueness and precision; Measurement uncertainty; Sampling uncertainty; Chapter 11: Estimation of measurement uncertainty; Abstract; The 'generalised uncertainty method' or 'bottom-up' procedure.

The 'top-down' approach to estimation of uncertaintyAnalysis of variance; Measurement of intermediate reproducibility; Estimation of uncertainty associated with quantal methods; Use of reference materials in quantal testing; Chapter 12: Statistical process control using microbiological data; Abstract; What is statistical process control?; Tools for statistical process control; Shewhart's control charts for variables data; CUSUM charts; The moving windows average; Control charts for attribute data; Recent developments in statistical process control.