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We need a new term for statistician and data scientist is as good as any. For many years, the terms "statistics" and "statistician" have had negative undertones
by casca 13y ago
We need a new term for statistician and data scientist is as good as any. For many years, the terms "statistics" and "statistician" have had negative undertones within the general public and renaming is a great way to overcome that.
- moocowduckquack 13y agoWe need a new term for statistician and data scientist is as good as any. Do you have any figures to back that up? I think we should run some tests.
- nfoz 13y agohuh? what are these "negative undertones"?
- jlgreco 13y agoAll I can think of is jokes about statisticians on hunting trips: "A priest, an engineer, and a statistician go on a hunting trip. The priest sees a squirrel, shoots at it, and misses by 10' under. The engineer shoots 10' over it. The statistician yells 'Got it!'" Or perhaps, "76% of all statistics are made up."
- johnpmayer 13y agoProbably the widely-help belief that anybody can come up with statistics for anything.
- nfoz 13y agoWell, that statement is true. You hire a statistician if you want statistics that are correct. Maybe people undervalue the latter...
- maaku 13y agoLies, damn lies, and statistics.
- djrobstep 13y agoIf statistics as a whole has a bad rep, there is surely a reason for that, and shouldn't we work on solving that underlying cause rather than hiding it under a rug by renaming?
- suchow 13y agoI believe the underlying reason why people dislike statistics is because they dislike whichever statistics course they were required to take in college. The courses (and instructors) are often very dry. And for students in the social sciences, who may not have much in the way of math training (or interest), the focus on symbolic manipulation of equations isn't very enlightening.
- r00fus 13y agoFrom my understanding it's due to the anti-intellectual strain of US society, summed up by the pithy saying "87% of statistics is made up". The fact remains that people are unkind to uncertainty and statistical models (as opposed to "common wisdom" or rote learning) requires the audience to embrace and understand uncertainty.