For some people, the term “statistics” may give them images of spreadsheets and boring formulas, but this isn’t really the case. More people are choosing to learn statistics in order to better understand the world around them.
Benefits of learning statistics extend far beyond the classroom and can have profound impacts on both your personal and professional life, especially if you work in certain fields where statistics can come in very handy.
Should I learn about statistics? This is a question more and more people are asking. They may learn the basics in mathematics classes but with hundreds of thousands of people employed in roles that use statistics in some way, there is a growing demand. Around 500 university courses involve statistics, so it is a popular choice. Some of the top reasons for going down this path are explored in this guide.
Decision-Making Skills
Who doesn’t want to be able to make better, informed decisions? One of the primary reasons to learn statistics is its critical role in decision-making. In both everyday life and professional settings, decisions often need to be made based on data.
Whether you are determining the effectiveness of a new marketing strategy, assessing the risk of an investment, or deciding on a treatment for you, statistical analysis provides a framework for making informed choices.
You don’t necessarily need a degree for a boost in this area. A basic level of knowledge helps you to understand trends, patterns, and probabilities, allowing you to weigh the potential outcomes of different decisions accurately.
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Of course, this is particularly useful in some fields of business and work.
“NewVantage Partners’ 2021 Big Data and AI Executive Survey revealed that 99% of surveyed companies are investing in data initiatives, and 96% are reporting measurable business outcomes. The market for applied statisticians is strong and getting stronger.”
Michigan Tech
Career Prospects and Opportunities
Once you start to understand statistics, you’ll quickly see how relevant the field has become to pretty much all of our lives. Whether we know it or not, statistics are a driving force behind a lot that we do. They’re used by governments to guide policies, and companies to make decisions. So what can you do with a statistics degree or other qualification?
Professionals with statistical expertise are in high demand for roles such as data analysts, market researchers, biostatisticians, and quality assurance analysts. By learning statistics, you enhance your employability and open up opportunities for career advancement in various high-paying and intellectually stimulating fields. Both descriptive and inferential statistics are part of decision-making processes and projections around the world.
There are so many examples of statistics having practical applications. In healthcare, statistics play a crucial role in various aspects, including medical research, epidemiology, and public health. Biostatisticians, for instance, design and analyze clinical trials to determine the effectiveness and safety of new medications and treatments. They work with researchers to interpret data and draw conclusions that actually form the basis for medical practices and policies. It’s literally a matter of life and death.
In engineering, statistics are applied in quality control, reliability engineering, and process optimization. Quality control engineers use statistical process control (SPC) methods to monitor and improve manufacturing processes, ensuring that products meet specified standards. Reliability engineers analyze failure data to predict the lifespan and performance of products and systems.
Social scientists, including sociologists, political scientists, and economists, rely on statistics to analyze social phenomena, understand human behavior, and inform public policy.
One popular method that is easy to understand for a lot of people (because it is relevant to all of our lives) is election polling. This is where, to try and understand who will perform well at elections, people are polled and the results are analyzed statistically for an accurate forecast.
A cross section of society are asked about their votes or voting intention. This data is fed into statistical models in order to predict the potential outcome of an election or referendum.
Improving Your Critical Thinking
Critical thinking involves evaluating information objectively and making reasoned judgments.
If you are wondering why statistics is in high school, this is one of the reasons why we learn about it. The importance of statistics and the option to learn statistics is huge for young people.
Your first instinct to improve critical thinking might not be to take a course, but if you do, learning about statistics could be the ideal method, as learning statistics fosters critical thinking. You’ll learn more about how to analyze data, question assumptions, and evaluate evidence.
It encourages a skeptical approach to information, where conclusions are based on evidence rather than anecdotal accounts. Why do we study statistics? Partially because of the fact it can shape the right approach to making decisions.
This skill is essential not only in academic and professional settings but also in everyday life, where it helps you make reasoned decisions and avoid being swayed by misinformation.
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Let’s use the professional example of a business owner trying to make a decision about their business.
Perhaps this hypothetical business owner runs a coffee shop, and sees posts on social media and in the news saying that people are going off coffee, and fewer people will be buying coffee in the coming years.
This might be true or it might just be a newspaper trying to come up with a story, or even a rumor that is being spread around. The answer for the business owner could be revealed in a proper analysis, which includes statistics. While statistics can’t tell the future for certain, there are a few ways that the business owner could use this information in conjunction with statistics to try to get a better understanding, based on evidence:
- Check what studies and surveys have said about coffee trends in the area. Are there declining sales?
- Conduct their own surveys of customers and use this data to work out what might be happening in the future.
- Analyze sales and profits from existing products and product types, are coffee sales in decline within the business?
Armed with data and statistics, the business owner can make decisions, rather than just listening to a news report and trusting it without proof.
This is a really basic example. If you’re wondering how to learn statistics then this will only give an overview of really basic principles, and the math and science involved in the bigger scheme of things is more complex. However, this example shows how statistics are important in day-to-day life.
Widely-Respected Qualifications (and College Entry)
What is statistics class? Whether you’re at high school or in further education there may be a chance to study statistics.
One of the top reasons is that it is a qualification held in high esteem, and the fact that you have studied it may also serve you well with things like college applications. In math classes, you may learn some of the basics of statistics.
You may be looking for the best statistics undergraduate programs and realize that this is often linked to other things. It can be combined with mathematics, analytics, and even social sciences. Statistics can be such a wide-reaching and important field that many people study it in different scenarios.
Studying statistics in high school can give you a good overview of why we study statistics and what you learn in statistics, ready to take on a college program if you want to.
Many college courses require applicants to have some courses under their belt. Calculus is something that all students will need to understand, but courses may also request a knowledge of statistical inference, probability theory, and linear regression models.
Somebody with an interest in the field should look to get experience with statistics before applying for a college course, if at all possible.
Learn Statistics with Superprof
As you can see, learning statistics doesn’t have to be reserved for school and university. People can brush up on these skills in order to boost their careers or just as a way to try and improve analytical thinking.
Superprof can provide you with the ideal tutors to learn statistics, as well as learn the skills you may need to fully understand statistics, such as mathematics basics.
If you’re looking to study statistics independently and privately, or to get help with your existing studies, start your search for a tutor right here on Superprof today.
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