Data is not just numbers, but numbers that carry information about a specific setting and it needs to be interpreted. The present-day growth of data in every field comes with a growing demand for the statistician’s services which involves producing trustworthy data, analysing data to make its meaning and understanding clear with suitable reasons, and drawing practical conclusions. Statistics uses modern computing to organise and analyse data.
The statistician’s emphasis is to make the data to be understood and to solve the problem rather than perform computing for its own sake. Statisticians are specialists, but statistics demands them to be generalists too.
Statistics is one of the subjects that is misunderstood by common people. I found some persons explaining Statistics like a blind person would explain an elephant. Statistics is taught at various levels depending on the course or requirement. This leads to a narrow exposure regarding its scope. Most often practitioners have a feeling that they have applied fairly good techniques even when the problem requires more sophisticated techniques/analysis.
Statistics essentially involves high-level analytical techniques that use higher mathematics. Companies need to analyse large data sets for their daily work which needs the skill of Statistics. Big data analytics is an emerging area now. Application of Statistics is required in almost all branches of life and various fields such as pharmaceutical, IT, product evaluation, finance, insurance, risk management, economic planning, marketing, weather forecasts, emergency preparedness, assessing disease risks, improving health care, transportation systems, assessing credit worthiness, ensuring national security, examining economic conditions, prosecuting criminals, ensuring the safety of medicine, rulemaking by governments, demography, evaluation of drug efficiency, etc.
Job prospectsStatistics is an excellent career choice. The job opportunities for Statisticians are in Indian Statistical Service (equivalent to IAS), National Sample Survey Organisation, Central Statistical Organisation, ICAR, ICMR , Meteorological Department, banking industry, research and development in private or and government organisations.
Advanced jobs in the field require a post-graduation in Statistics. An M.Sc. course in Statistics is offered at Mangalore University since 1981. The course is designed to learn applied papers such as Econometrics, Statistical Finance, Operations Research, Time Series and Data Mining. Practicals are carried out using computers and students are mainly trained to develop programmes. Project work being a part of the course work is helpful in getting placements in companies. At present there is a scarcity of trained Statisticians in the industry.
(The author is Chairman of the Post-Graduate Department of Statistics and Dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology, Mangalore University)
