Analyse and interpret numbers and data

Statistics is the science of collecting, classifying, analysing and interpreting numerical information. Statistical analysis data is used in different fields. It is required in various government departments, sectors like finance, market research, research and development, and all spheres which require estimates and planning.

Courses

Several universities offer postgraduate degrees and diplomas in Statistics.  Statistics is also taught by private institutes, IITs, engineering colleges and polytechnic institutes.  The Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, is a premier institute for statistics studies.  The institute has centres at Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and New Delhi.

From public to private

Statistics offers a wide range of employment opportunities in teaching, government services, commerce, data processing, research, testing, banking and insurance.
Under government services, the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) and the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) recruit statistical investigators to process statistical data.
The Indian Statistical Service (ISS) has an annual examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). After qualifying as an ISS probationer, one starts as an assistant director in CSO.  
The CSO is the main controlling agency and other state-level directorates of economics and statistics also come under its purview.
Private companies employ statistics graduates and postgraduates as analysts and developers of financial and statistical software.

Statistical Commission

The National Statistical Commission (NSC) was constituted in the year 2005 for improving the country's statistical system. The commission recommends national policies and priorities relating to the statistical system, formulate standard statistical concepts, definitions, classif-ications and methodologies in different areas in statistics, and lay down national quality standards on core statistics.

Data and analysis of the Indian economy are available at www.statisticsofindia.com. The State Directorate of Economics and Statistics has an independent website — http://[e-mail].

The information available in the website includes district-wise data on daily/ weekly/ monthly/ annual rainfall statistics, timely reports of areas of principal crops, statistics of agricultural production in Karnataka, crop estimation of fruits, vegetables and minor crops, annual seasonal crops statistics, agricultural census and input surveys, collection of retail and wholesale prices, computation of industrial production index, local body statistics, civil registration system, national sample survey, and the economic survey of the state government and the state at a glance.

These sites should help students who are pursuing a degree in statistics to better understand what the field has to offer.