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STATISTICS AS A PROFESSION

STATISTICS AS A PROFESSION. N. Scott Urquhart Director, STARMAP Department of Statistics Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO 80523-1877. OUTLINE FOR TODAY. Questions are WELCOME Start with “Truth in Advertising” What a statistician does Fields of endeavor which use statistics

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STATISTICS AS A PROFESSION

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  1. STATISTICS AS A PROFESSION N. Scott Urquhart Director, STARMAP Department of Statistics Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO 80523-1877

  2. OUTLINE FOR TODAY • Questions are WELCOME • Start with “Truth in Advertising” • What a statistician does • Fields of endeavor which use statistics • High school courses relevant to continuing in statistics • Personal experience with agricultural, ecological and environmental scientists

  3. TRUTH IN ADVERTISING! • My objective today: Interest you in considering statistics as a career • Come to Colorado State University – good idea • Other good undergraduate programs exist • Why? • Real shortage of trained statisticians • Environmental statisticians in particular • EPA funding to CSU – Statistics • Cooperative agreement CR-829095 • Although people at EPA have encouraged me to visits high schools, I do NOT speak for EPA.

  4. WHAT DOES A STATISTICIAN DO? • Most practicing statisticians help investigators solve problems • The problems ordinarily have some quantitative aspect • Do statisticians mainly sit at a computer doing statistical analyses (tests)? • NO !!!!! • My substantial areas of activity: • Designing responses – how to measure things • Designing studies – experiments and surveys • Helping people relate analyses to objectives • Interpreting analyses • Planning and/or conducting analyses

  5. WHAT FIELDS USE STATISTICS? • Simple answer = MOST! • Manufacturing (Development, QA, & HR) • From automobiles (Ford) • To computer chips (Intel) • To the petrochemical industry (Phillips) • To aerospace (Boeing) • To drug manufacture (Bristol-Myers Squibb) • Medical • Drug research • Cancer research • Health maintenance organizations (HMO) • Evaluation of medical/surgical procedures

  6. WHAT FIELDS USE STATISTICS?(continued) • Government • Environmental agencies EPA to cities (Portland, OR) • Health – CDC = (Centers for Disease control and Prevention) • Security – FBI & CIA; Homeland Security • Departments of transportation • Agriculture • Social sciences • Census Bureau • National Park Service • Public utility commissions

  7. WHAT FIELDS USE STATISTICS?(continued - 2) • Business • Internet usage • Banking • Marketing – market analyses • Publishing (current announcement from Freeman) • Accounting/auditing • Statistical consulting firms • Academic • Most disciplines use statistics in some way • Engineering to literature! • Psychology to crop science!

  8. HIGH SCHOOL COURSES RELEVANT TO CONTINUING IN STATISTICS • English • “Reading” & “Writing” • Math • “Arithmetic” • As wide an exposure to “word problems” as possible • Computer usage • General science • Learning is hard work! • Most marketable skills require hard work to learn • Easy courses of study lead to lots of competitors in the workplace

  9. MY EXPERIENCES WITH ECOLOGISTS/ENVIRONMENTAL/AGRICULTURAL SCIENTISTS TO ILLUSTRATIONS

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