Why study statistics, and how can I use it in my career or everyday life?

We are surrounded by data and inundated with it every waking hour, and while we are asleep, mountains of data accumulate, ready to grab our attention. What do governments, industries of all kinds, schools and universities, and even sports teams have in common? They collect and utilize massive amounts of data. How do these groups make sense of all this information and find patterns and outcomes that matter to them? Statistics. Statistics provides tools that help us organize, summarize, analyze and synthesize data to understand our complex world and make decisions.

Think of any event that you may be interested in understanding or examining: what are the chances my basketball team will win its game?; is my new pain medication effective?; what is the most popular SUV in my state? I can answer these questions and any other that deals with measurable data using the concepts and techniques I will discuss in this blog.

As a producer and consumer of data every day of your life, it is paramount that you understand statistics on at least some level. It can help you make decisions based on information that, on the surface, might seem unanswerable. If you want to buy a new car, what would be more helpful? If you know the prices at one dealership or the average price at all the dealerships in your area? If you want to know how you compare to others on the fitness test you just completed, do you want to know all the individual scores of others or the typical score of everyone?

These examples point to the concept that good decisions are made when we have organized data so that we can interpret and what it means to a given situation. Having evidence to examine and analyze systematically makes statistics valuable and powerful.

Think about a decision you made today or information presented in a news report or the stock market results and you will then begin to recognize why statistics matter.