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Activity Number: 545
Type: Contributed
Date/Time: Wednesday, August 12, 2015 : 10:30 AM to 12:20 PM
Sponsor: Section on Statistical Education
Abstract #316465
Title: What's in a Name? The Evolution of Statistical Terms Such as Analytics, Big Data, and Data Science
Author(s): John McKenzie*
Companies: Babson College
Keywords: Business Analytics ; Computer Science ; Data Analytics ; History of Statistics ; Management Science ; Terminology
Abstract:

In the past 50 years there has been a substantive change in the statistical meaning of robustness as explained by Stigler (2010). The same is true of many common statistical terms, including statistics from its original American definition as a collection of facts respecting the state of society. In recent years numerous words have been introduced into the statistical terminology, many of which are related to technological advances. Among them are Big Data, analytics, and data science, all of which are the result of the availability of large and complex sets of data. This presentation will explain how such terms have evolved from their original meaning(s) in the statistical, computer, and management sciences. A result of such changes may be one of more agreed-upon definitions. Another outcome is strikingly different meanings. The talk will conclude with the identification of some terms that should be added to the lists of common statistical terms due to David (1995 and 1998) and Aldrich (2011 and 2014).


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