Axe ’Em, Jacks!
“Decide” for yourself…
What fraction of people will purchase your company’s product? Does my risk of being in a car accident change with age? How can we determine if one drug is superior to another for treating a particular illness? Does the severity of a convicted felon’s punishment depend on the location of their trial?
Statistics is the science of making decisions in the face of uncertainty. Uncertainty is measured by calculating probabilities. All of the questions above require decision-making. More than anything else, the best reason to study statistics is to learn how to reason and make decisions using data. Statisticians aid investigators in other fields – business, law, medicine, education, psychology and others – and help these investigators make decisions based on the data available to them. In this way, statistics is naturally an interdisciplinary subject that helps to advance decision-making in a plethora of fields.
Lumberjacks who study statistics learn to be better decision-makers. If you choose to pursue a minor in statistics or a graduate degree in mathematical sciences with an emphasis in statistics, you’ll learn how to use data to draw sound conclusions. Want to join our decision-making team? Decide for yourself…
Hot jobs: statistician, statistical analyst, actuarial scientist and data scientist
The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists “statistician” as one of the Top 10 occupations with the highest percentage increase of employment by 2024. Recently, The New York Times published an article titled "For Today’s Graduate, Just One Word: Statistics." The 2017 list of Top 100 Jobs published by U.S. News & World Report listed “statistician” as No. 4. “Mathematician” made the Top 20, and "actuarial scientist" is in the Top 30. In 2016, CareerCast.com listed “data scientist” and “statistician” as the top two jobs for which to pursue training.
No matter where you turn, people agree that being able to describe, summarize, present and analyze data are hot skills to develop.
Lumberjacks make great decision-makers
As a statistics student, you’ll have the opportunity to apply what you learn in the classroom.
Recent undergraduate projects include:
- Analyzing popular TV game shows
- Deciding what makes a pitcher an “ace” in major league baseball
- Investigating optimal ways to analyze data when assumptions to typical procedures don’t make sense in nature
- Investigating whether college teachers struggled in college at the same rate as other professions
Applied statistics minor
Statistical analysis is fundamental to decision-making in today’s global marketplace. Shore up your major field of study with a minor in applied statistics to gain a leading edge in the eyes of companies seeking candidates with sought-after quantitative skills.