Why Study Statistics?

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Information from ThisIsStatistics.org — a site from the American Statistical Association for promoting the practice and profession of statistics

Think You Know Statistics? Think Again!

Statistics is a fulfilling and rewarding profession. With a career in statistics — the science of learning from data — you can make a difference, have fun, satisfy your curiosity, and make money.

Why Study Statistics?

  • Statisticians and Data Scientists are among the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ fastest growing careers.
  • The McKinsey Global Institute predicts a shortage of people with the skills needed to run Big Data projects.
  • Online jobs site CareerCast named statistician a top job for women.
  • Fortune magazine ranked statistics and biostatistics among the top graduate degrees based on salary, growth, and job satisfaction.

Statisticians Work in Many Interesting Fields

Sports: Working with professional or college sports teams using statistics to inform draft picks for the most competitive players.
Medicine and Health: Helping medical researchers understand the prevalence of disease among various populations.
Data Science: Contributing to advancements in the computing industry through machine learning, speech recognition, and artificial intelligence.
Ecology and the Environment: Conducting analyses that lead to better management of the earth’s natural resources.
Business and Finance: Helping industry improve efficiency in business processes; working with banks to identify risk and opportunity.
Politics and Government: Improving voter targeting and assessing the success of government policies and programs.

More Career Information