By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
SmartData CollectiveSmartData Collective
  • Analytics
    AnalyticsShow More
    data Analytics instagram stories
    Data Analytics Helps Marketers Make the Most of Instagram Stories
    15 Min Read
    analyst,women,looking,at,kpi,data,on,computer,screen
    What to Know Before Recruiting an Analyst to Handle Company Data
    6 Min Read
    AI analytics
    AI-Based Analytics Are Changing the Future of Credit Cards
    6 Min Read
    data overload showing data analytics
    How Does Next-Gen SIEM Prevent Data Overload For Security Analysts?
    8 Min Read
    hire a marketing agency with a background in data analytics
    5 Reasons to Hire a Marketing Agency that Knows Data Analytics
    7 Min Read
  • Big Data
  • BI
  • Exclusive
  • IT
  • Marketing
  • Software
Search
© 2008-23 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Statistics vs. Data Science vs. BI
Share
Notification Show More
Aa
SmartData CollectiveSmartData Collective
Aa
Search
  • About
  • Help
  • Privacy
Follow US
© 2008-23 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.
SmartData Collective > Data Management > Culture/Leadership > Statistics vs. Data Science vs. BI
Big DataBusiness IntelligenceCulture/LeadershipJobsStatistics

Statistics vs. Data Science vs. BI

DavidMSmith
Last updated: 2013/05/18 at 12:01 AM
DavidMSmith
4 Min Read
SHARE

As someone who trained as a statistician, I’ve always struggled with that title. I love the rigor and insight that Statistics brings to data analysis, but let’s face it: Statistics — the name — has always had a bit of a branding problem. Telling someone I was a statistician was more likely to conjure up images of me counting runs at a baseball (or cricket) game than pursuing serious science.

As someone who trained as a statistician, I’ve always struggled with that title. I love the rigor and insight that Statistics brings to data analysis, but let’s face it: Statistics — the name — has always had a bit of a branding problem. Telling someone I was a statistician was more likely to conjure up images of me counting runs at a baseball (or cricket) game than pursuing serious science. And the image of what Statistics ideally is about — collaborative, interactive, applied, fun — was too often subsumed by the stereotype image — isolated, actuarial, ivory tower, report driven. (And hey, even actuaries can be fun sometimes.)

That’s why I’m a fan of the term “data scientist” — it embodies everything that Statistics always should be, without the baggage and tradition of the term “statistician”. So I enjoyed participating in yesterday’s Kalido webinar “Data Scientist: Your Must-Have Business Investment Now” where I could make the following contrast between the images of Statisticians and Data Scientists:

Statistics v Data Science

More Read

tech credentials needed to find data science jobs in Italy

What Data Scientists Must Know About Italy’s Tech Credentials

5 Reasons for Data Scientists To Learn Ethical Hacking
7 Misconceptions About Data Science
Side Hustle Ideas for Experienced Data Scientists in 2022
Top Benefits of Using Docker for Data Science

(A quick aside on the “Data Size” row above: while the unstructured or unaggregated data source data that data scientist work with can be in the terabytes range or even large, by the time it’s cleaned and prepared for statistical modeling, a file in the gigabytes range is even more typical — even at “Big Data” companies like Facebook. This is a topic I cover in more detail in my recent Strata talk on real-time predictive analytics.)

So bottom line: while I am a statistician, and I love Statistics dearly, I do prefer to call myself a Data Scientist today, because it better represents to me what Statistics really is to me (if that makes sense). And that’s certainly not to diminish the achievements of those who do call themselves Statistician. In particular, I want to recognize George Box: a true hero of mine, coiner of the idiom “all models are wrong, but some are useful”, and one of the nicest people I ever met, who sadly passed away in March.

On the other hand, I have no qualms about making a competitive comparison between Data Science and Business Intelligence:

Data Science v BI

You can get the details of how I differentiate Statistics and Data Science and BI, and hear other perspectives on Data Science from fellow data scientists Carla Gentry and Gregory Piatetsky in the slide sand replay of the webinar provided by Kalido at the link below.

Kalido: Data Scientist: Your Must-Have Business Investment NOW

TAGGED: Data Scientist
DavidMSmith May 18, 2013
Share This Article
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn
Share

Follow us on Facebook

Latest News

smart home data
7 Mind-Blowing Ways Smart Homes Use Data to Save Your Money
Big Data
ai low code frameworks
AI Can Help Accelerate Development with Low-Code Frameworks
Artificial Intelligence
data Analytics instagram stories
Data Analytics Helps Marketers Make the Most of Instagram Stories
Analytics
data breaches
How Hospital Security Breaches Devastate Local Communities
Policy and Governance

Stay Connected

1.2k Followers Like
33.7k Followers Follow
222 Followers Pin

You Might also Like

tech credentials needed to find data science jobs in Italy
Data Science

What Data Scientists Must Know About Italy’s Tech Credentials

9 Min Read
data scientists can consider careers as ethical hackers
News

5 Reasons for Data Scientists To Learn Ethical Hacking

9 Min Read
principles of data science
Data Science

7 Misconceptions About Data Science

7 Min Read
side hustle ideas for data scientists
Data Science

Side Hustle Ideas for Experienced Data Scientists in 2022

15 Min Read

SmartData Collective is one of the largest & trusted community covering technical content about Big Data, BI, Cloud, Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, IoT & more.

AI chatbots
AI Chatbots Can Help Retailers Convert Live Broadcast Viewers into Sales!
Chatbots
ai is improving the safety of cars
From Bolts to Bots: How AI Is Fortifying the Automotive Industry
Artificial Intelligence

Quick Link

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Follow US
© 2008-23 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Go to mobile version
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Lost your password?