Statistics and Data Science
According to Wikipedia August 7, 2023,
“Data Science is an interdisciplinary academic field that uses statistics, scientific computing, scientific methods, processes, algorithms and systems to extract or extrapolate knowledge and insights from noisy, structured, and unstructured data,”
while
“Statistics is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data.”
In our department’s view, Statistics is a crucial and important discipline within the profession now named Data Science. Our statistics department’s point of view is widespread and was emphasized in many blogs, forums, articles, and other venues. Some important reading links are:
- Data Science and Statistics: different worlds? Royal Statistical Society panel on Data Science.
- David Donoho’s “50 yeas of Data Science” Here you can read about the real history of data science and its statistical roots.
- Big data: are we making a big mistake? Here you can read about the importance of statistics in the ‘big data’ era.
- The Identity of Statistics in Data Science. This article will tell you more about the role of statisticians within data science.
- The Hunt For Unicorn Data Scientists. And here you can find out that salaries are increasing for those statisticians that know how to be relevant in the era of ‘big data’.