Data Mining: Should It Be Included In The 'Statistics' Curriculum?


Book: 
Proceedings of the sixth international conference on teaching statistics, Developing a statistically literate society
Authors: 
Ganesh, S.
Editors: 
Phillips, B.
Category: 
Pages: 
Online
Year: 
2002
Publisher: 
International Statistical Institute
URL: 
http://www.stat.auckland.ac.nz/~iase/publications/1/3l4_gane.pdf
Abstract: 

Teaching of statistics involves developing and adapting robust procedures for understanding statistical concepts, and for the management and analysis of statistical data. The field of statistics is constantly challenged problems that arise from science, industry and business. Traditionally, the statistics curriculum deals with data often collected to answer specific questions. However, in the modern 'information' age, vast amounts of data are collected, often automatically, with the advent of powerful computers. Data Mining is the process of extracting knowledge from large volumes of data. Since 'computation' plays a major role in this process, computer scientists have a significant claim over the ownership of data mining. Nevertheless, data mining techniques, in general, have a statistical base; and statisticians are beginning to show a significant interest in the area, including offering tertiary courses in 'statistical' data mining.

The CAUSE Research Group is supported in part by a member initiative grant from the American Statistical Association’s Section on Statistics and Data Science Education