Statistics vs. Computer Science (lemmy.world)

submitted 2 months ago by birretta@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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I'm interested in both and can get into Data Science with both, but I'm mainly asking myself which one would be better paired with a career in journalism? (data journalism)

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[-] naught101@lemmy.world 8 points 2 months ago

This. I've done a bit of all of it (science trained), and worked with others too. People with good science and stats backgrounds seem to have a better grasp of the pitfalls of data analysis. People with only software or data science background sometimes struggle with stats concepts.

Basically, it's easy to pick up enough coding and data viz skills by yourself if you understand the stats. But it's NOT easy to pick up statistics by yourself if you only understand coding and data viz.

[-] JollyG@lemmy.world 5 points 2 months ago

This has largely been my experience as well. I work as a statistician and it seems like the folks who arrived at data science through a CS background are less equipped to think through data analysis. Though I suppose to be fair, their coding skills are better than mine. But if OP wants to do data journalism, of the sort Pro Publica is gearing up for, then a stats background would be better.

this post was submitted on 31 Mar 2025

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