When many people hear the word “statistics,” they think of either sports-related numbers or the college class they took and barely passed. While statistics can be thought about in these terms, there is more to the relationship between you and statistics than you probably imagine.
So, what is statistics? Several informal definitions are offered in the book A Career in Statistics: Beyond the Numbers by Gerald Hahn and Necip Doganaksoy:
- The science of learning from (or making sense out of) data
- The theory and methods of extracting information from observational data for solving real-world problems
- The science of uncertainty
- The quintessential interdisciplinary science
- The art of telling a story with [numerical] data
Statistics is used around the world by governments, political parties, civil servants, financial companies, opinion-polling firms, social researchers, news organizations, and so much more.
Statisticians, the scientists who collect and analyze data, work in many areas that touch your life, including the following:
- Medicine
- Economics
- Agriculture
- Business
- Law enforcement
- Weather forecasting
Statistics is becoming more critical as academia, businesses, and governments come to rely on data-driven decisions, greatly expanding the demand for statisticians.
At Langara, statistics courses are offered by the Statistics and Data Analytics Department.
Most of our statistics courses are data oriented. We offer several introductory courses, designed for people in various areas of specialization and with various mathematical backgrounds. (See below for information on how to choose a course.) All these courses (STAT 1123, 1124, 1181) present the material at primarily an intuitive level, stressing an understanding of the concepts. Minimal emphasis is placed on calculation; instead, explanation and interpretation of results are stressed. The student is expected to master some calculations using a calculator. Each introductory course includes a term project, in which the student uses computer software taught in class to help investigate a large-scale statistical problem from the student's area of interest. No previous experience with computers is expected.
Students who wish to see more advanced data analysis can register in either STAT 2225 or 3222 or 3223; choose the course by considering your program of study, your math background, and transferability. These courses teach similar topics, but STAT 2225 is designed for students with a stronger math background, so material on mathematical topics such as the derivation of formulas may be included. In all three courses, real-life data is used to illustrate the various methods and analyses that can be applied to a statistical problem.
We also offer a mathematical probability course (STAT 2281), which has a first-year calculus prerequisite. STAT 2281 is our one course that is not data oriented. Much of the probability theory underlying popular statistical methods is introduced, developed, and discussed. While there is no formal statistics prerequisite, we strongly advise students to take STAT 1181 at least concurrently, so that we can illustrate how the mathematical and probabilistic ideas presented in STAT 2281 are applied to statistical data analysis.
