We live in an information age. Computers allow us to collect and store information in quantities that previously would never have been dreamt of. However, data is useless until people can start to make sense of it. If you’re interested in looking critically at numerical information without being misled, then Statistics could be the ideal major for you.
Statistics is the human side of the computer revolution – statisticians take raw undigested data, often in very large sets, and make sense of it to solve problems and provide valid information in almost every area of life. As a Statistics student you’ll study how to ask the right questions, how to design ways to collect and analyse data, and how to present information in meaningful ways.
You can take courses in the following topics:
- Applied statistics
- Data analysis
- Operations research
- Probability
- Statistical computing
- Statistical theory
You can also choose to keep your Statistics major general, or you can follow either the Applied Statistics pathway or the Statistics and Probability pathway, in order to focus your studies further:
- Applied Statistics: For students who are primarily interested in the practice of statistics.
- Statistics and Probability: For students who are interested in both the applications of statistics and the theory underlying the practice of statistics and probability, including stochastic modelling. If you’re intending to progress to postgraduate study you should take this pathway.