STATISTICS

Statistics is the branch of applied mathematics concerned with the collection and interpretation of quantitative data and the use of probability theory to estimate population parameters. Statistical studies are the basis of newspaper headlines every day, whether it be statistical indicators of the health of the economy, a study of the effectiveness of mammograms, or predictors of climate change. For modern trends in statistics, see the New York Times front page story in August, 2009 whose headline read For Today's Graduate, One Word: Statistics. Go to NY Times statistics article

The Stony Brook Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics has a program of graduate training and research in Statistics, offering M.S. and Ph.D. degrees. Unlike most other graduate programs in statistics, the emphasis is on applied statistics, with theory kept to a minimum. In strong and weak economics times, there has always been a strong demand for our applied statistics M.S. and Ph.D. graduates in New York City banking and investment companies, in New York area biomedical research centers, and in drug companies in northern New Jersey (the world's leading center for pharmaceutical research).

Most of our statistics faculty specialize in biostatistics-- statistical problems arising from biomedical research and clinical trials of new treatments. Biostatistics problems recently under study include the genetic basis of schizophrenia, cancer survival studies, effects of alcohol on brain function (using PET scans), safety of the blood supply, markers in blood for ovarian cancer, and effective strategies for community mental health programs. Other statistics research has involved change points in financial time series, effective foster care strategies, and climate modeling. For more information about Statistics research, see Statistics projects.

The standard professional degree for statisticians working in business and biomedical research is the M.S. degree. The department offers a 30-credit M.S. degree, with no thesis, that prepares students for such non-academic careers. All statistics M.S. students must complete an internship as a statistical consultant on some research project. The department also offers a Ph.D. degree which starts off with the same courses as the M.S. degree. For more details about requirements for the Ph.D., please see Ph.D. Requirements.

Required Courses for M.S. Degree in Statistics Track
AMS 507 Introduction to Probability
AMS 510 Analytical Methods for Applied Mathematics and Statistics
AMS 570 Mathematical Statistics I
AMS 571 Mathematical Statistics II (required for PhD only)
AMS 572 Data Analysis
AMS 573 Design and Analysis of Categorical Data
AMS 578 Regression
AMS 582 Design of Experiments
AMS 597 Statistical Computing

plus two electives chosen from other graduate courses in the department or (with an advisor's approval) graduate statistics courses in other departments.