Statistical education in
times of Big Data
ESS Big Data Workshop
Ljubljana, 14 October 2016
Markus Zwick
What is statistics?
• Mathematical Statistics
• Applied Statistics
• Official Statistics
Federal Statistical Office Germany,
Institute for Research and Development in Official Statistics
What are the target groups for
statistical education?
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Pupils, students, professionals
Data producer, data manager
Data users, analysts, decision maker
Data scientists, iStatistician
Federal Statistical Office Germany,
Institute for Research and Development in Official Statistics
What are the instruments to teach
statistics?
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Traditional methods like front teaching
E-learning
Webinars
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC)
Blended learning
Federal Statistical Office Germany,
Institute for Research and Development in Official Statistics
Transformation of the statistician’s
profile: the Data Scientist
Competences
• Analytical and computing skills
• Delivering quality and ethical analyses
• Process management skills
• Communication skills
• Developing analytical expertise
Federal Statistical Office Germany,
Institute for Research and Development in Official Statistics
The Data Scientist
will be a team with
specialized
member skills
Federal Statistical Office Germany,
Institute for Research and Development in Official Statistics
Big Data Team Level Competency
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Team work
Interpersonal and communication
Delivery of results
Innovation and contextual awareness
Specialist knowledge and expertise
Statistical/IT skills
Data Analytical/ Visualisation skills
Competency profiles have been created by the UNECE High-Level Group
for the Modernisation of Official Statistics
http://www1.unece.org/stat/platform/display/bigdata/Competency+Profiles
Federal Statistical Office Germany,
Institute for Research and Development in Official Statistics
Big Data Team Leader Level
Competency
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Leadership and Strategic Direction
Judgement and decision-making
Management and delivery of results
Building relationships and communication
Specialist knowledge and expertise
Statistical/IT skills
Data Analytical/ Visualisation skills
Competency profiles have been created by the UNECE High-Level Group
for the Modernisation of Official Statistics
http://www1.unece.org/stat/platform/display/bigdata/Competency+Profiles
Federal Statistical Office Germany,
Institute for Research and Development in Official Statistics
Methods
New situation generates new mathematical structure and
methods
We have a lot of statistical methods and tools
The methods which are often used will change
Record linkage, statistical matching
We will see more applications with less theoretical
background
"With enough data the numbers
speak for themselves"
Federal Statistical Office Germany,
Institute for Research and Development in Official Statistics
What has really changed in the
digital revolution?
We have data !!! and we are able to use it
• Survey data, open data, big data
• Micro data, aggregate data, meta data
It is nessesary to teach
(official) statistics with data
Federal Statistical Office Germany,
Institute for Research and Development in Official Statistics
UNECE Sandbox
Irish Centre for High-End Computing / CSO have created a Big Data
‘sandbox’ containing data sets and tools
http://www1.unece.org/stat/platform/display/bigdata/Sandbox
Federal Statistical Office Germany,
Institute for Research and Development in Official Statistics
How to teach interdisciplinarity
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within projects
inside universities
between universities
between universities and external partners
in the cloud (sandboxes)
Conclusions
Federal Statistical Office Germany,
Institute for Research and Development in Official Statistics
Introductory statistics courses
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Descriptive and inductive statistics
Data, Data, Data
Data Quality
Data visualisation
Privacy
Federal Statistical Office Germany,
Institute for Research and Development in Official Statistics
Master programmes
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The system of Official Statistics
Production models and methods
Specific Themes of Official Statistics
Statistical Methods
Dissemination
Federal Statistical Office Germany,
Institute for Research and Development in Official Statistics
European Master in Official
Statistics
"The main goal of this project is to establish a quality label for
university 'European Official Statistics' programmes that meet
agreed standards in education. University programmes that are
benchmarked to these standards become members of the
'European Official Statistics' network."
Ex-Ante Evaluation Document for the project, May 2011.
Federal Statistical Office Germany,
Institute for Research and Development in Official Statistics
Elective
courses
Emos Learning outcomes
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/cros/content/emos_en
Federal Statistical Office Germany,
Institute for Research and Development in Official Statistics
Internal training
New ESTP courses:
• Statistical matching and record linkage
• Big Data instruments
• Data visualisation
• Data mining
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/european-statisticalsystem/training-programme-estp
Federal Statistical Office Germany,
Institute for Research and Development in Official Statistics
Thank you for your attention!
[email protected]
https://de.linkedin.com/in/markus-zwick-72393213
Federal Statistical Office Germany,
Institute for Research and Development in Official Statistics