Why Data Science and Statistics?

Data Science and Statistics combines knowledge of concepts from statistics and computer science to extract meaning from data to inform evidence-based decisions. Students select a concentration in statistics or in data science. The two concentrations share a core of coursework in mathematics, statistics and programming. The concentration in statistics develops skills for preparing and analyzing data in a wide variety of observational and experimental contexts. The concentration in data science focuses on methods needed for exploring, managing and analyzing complex or enormous data sets.

What Can I Do With a Major in Data Science and Statistics?

Anything you want. Skills that involve processing data into information that is used to support insight and innovation will serve you in any area of application. Marketers use these skills to target products and coupons, educators use these skills to identify students who might benefit from additional educational intervention, bankers use these skills to detect fraudulent credit card activity, and biologists use these skills to explore genomic data. Graduates of this program pursue data science careers in corporations, consulting, government agencies, and non-profit organizations.

Student Learning Outcomes (Statistics Concentration)

• Analyze and interpret data critically using statistical models and programming skills.
• Identify appropriate probability models for experiments and use them to derive and evaluate estimators for population parameters.
• Effectively communicate, both orally and in written form, results of statistical analyses to both the expert and layperson.

Student Learning Outcomes (Data Science Concentration)

• Frame the analyses of applied problems in terms of the learning-from-data cycle of inquiry.
• Construct and manipulate both structured and unstructured data to produce datasets for analytical purposes.
• Apply appropriate methods for data reduction, prediction, and visualization.