Andy Field is professor of Quantitative Methods at the University of Sussex. Field did his B.Sc. Psychology 1991–1994 at City University London and his D.Phil. at University of Sussex from 1994–1997. Field is the author of several textbooks about statistics, which typically deal with software application of statistical theory in SPSS and R. His books are characterised by an irreverent, sometimes outrageous, writing style that is atypical of academic texts. His student-friendly approach to writing led to The Times Higher Education Supplement dubbing him 'the Harry Potter of the social sciences'. Field received different honors from the British Psychological Society: their Teaching Award in 2005 which recognises unusually significant contributions to education and training in psychology within the UK. And in 2007 the Book Award for the second edition of his book Discovering Statistics Using SPSS: and sex and drugs and rock 'n' roll. In 2010 he received a National Teaching Fellowship for individual excellence in teaching. He became fellow of the Higher Education Academy in 2009 and fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in 2010. His current field of research lies in anxiety, child development and maths attainment. In 2016 Field published An Adventure In Statistics: The Reality Enigma, which is described as a textbook embedded within a fictional novel. The book also contains graphic novel elements. The book was a finalist for The Association of Learned & Professional Society Publishers Award for Innovation in Publishing, the British Book Design and Production Awards and the British Psychological Societybook award.
Personal life
In his books, Field typically cites the music that he listened to while writing. The bands cited are predominantly in the genres of Rock music, Progressive rock, and Heavy metal music. He lists his musical heroes as Dave Murray of Iron Maiden and Mikael Åkerfeldt and Martin Axenrot of Opeth. From 1989 until 1996 Field played guitar and sang in the heavy metal bandScanxion and in a 2014 article he discusses playing the drums in a band called Fracture Pattern. His books make frequent references to his pets. He is married with two sons, and lives in Brighton.
