Mar 9, 2016

Alum's Wall Street Journal Letter Debunks Big Data Myth

From the Wall Street Journal

Letter to the Editor: Statistics Are a Part of the Massive Big-Data Future

Michael S. Malone's "The Big-Data Future Has Arrived" (op-ed, Feb. 23) provides an interesting overview of the benefits being made possible through the abundance of data and the capabilities to analyze it. However, it also propagates a common myth that this new world of data "signals the end of the reign of statistics," with the argument given that being able to measure all the data negates the need to sample and extrapolate. On the contrary, statistical methods, including sampling, are the foundation for being able to run the analyses, experiments and algorithms that make big-data analytics possible. Rather than subordinating this discipline, statistics knowledge should be encouraged to truly ensure the future of big data.

—Judd Heckman

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Judd Heckman is a 2015 alumnus of the MIDS program.

Last updated:

October 4, 2016