Training of Statisticians
Competent statisticians will be front line troops in
our war for survival-but how do we get them? I think there is now a wide readiness
to agree that what we want are neither mere theorem provers nor mere users of a
cook- book. A proper balance of theory and practice is needed and, most important, statisticians
must learn how to be good scientists; a talent which has to be acquired
by experience and example. To quote Fisher once more, in 1952, in a letter concerning
a proposed Statistics Center to be set up in Scotland he said :
“I have no hesitation in advising that such a centre as you have under discussion should plan to integrate teaching closely with project work in which practical experience can be gained by those who are capable of learning from it; in contradistinction to the ruinous process of segregating the keener minds into a completely sterile atmosphere” .[1]
It is encouraging that at more and more statistical centers such advice is now being taken seriously.1
References
“I have no hesitation in advising that such a centre as you have under discussion should plan to integrate teaching closely with project work in which practical experience can be gained by those who are capable of learning from it; in contradistinction to the ruinous process of segregating the keener minds into a completely sterile atmosphere” .[1]
It is encouraging that at more and more statistical centers such advice is now being taken seriously.1
References
[1] Box, Joan Fisher(1976) Fisher, The Life of a Scientist, New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
1 Quoted with some arrangements from Box, George E.P.(1976) Science and Statistics, JASA, 71(356), 791-799.
Last modified: Wednesday, 24 February 2016, 7:26 PM