You can't do a study abroad for statistics! (LJ 4/6)

Yep. That's what my professor told me today in my Modern Regression method class. He was bemoaning the fact that there are no field trips we as stats students could take. There was just no point. Statistics is the same around the world.

"I attended a meeting," he said, "about teaching for a study abroad. But statistics? The people were so patient and long suffering.
'You need to teach something in the country.'
 And I said, ok...I'll be in the country.
'No, teach something related to the country like Victorian literature or Shakespeare.'
Ok, I can teach Shakespeare...I won't be amazing at it though.
'Not literature. Something related to statistics.'
Shakespearean statistics? You can't do a study abroad for statistics!"

This was when I pointed out that I was in fact doing a study abroad. In England. Studying statistics. "So what...you'll visit Bayes' grave? Fisher's house?" Lots of incredulous laughter.

I'll be the first to admit, there is no need to studying statistics in a foreign country. You can use statistics in a study abroad (i.e. carbon dating artifacts in Rome, analyzing a survey in Finland, setting up an experiment about mother education in Mexico), but you do not need to study statistics in another country. That is not to say you can't; it just isn't vital. A mean is a mean is a mean, regardless of where you are.

So...why is a field study a good match for me to study statistics? It has been a struggle for me to justify it. I will not gain anything by "visiting the grave" of a statistician, even a famous, significant one. In my field study proposal, there hardest part is answering "How will you benefit at this point from a program aimed at cultural immersion and understanding?" and "Is the proposed experience relevant to the program location?"

 Therefore, the justification for my field study does not come from the statistics; it comes from the personal experiences I will gain. As a statistician, it is necessary to be able to discuss and brainstorm with others from different backgrounds. Other perspectives lead to different approaches, analysis, and hence results. For example, in fitting even simple data, there are over ten different approaches to fit a line. And in those ten approaches, there are countless ways to apply them (cleaning data differently, having different cut-off values or significance rates, or even using different software). It is then necessary to collaborate with others to compare methods in order to be complete and more accurate in the final results. On my field study, I will be learning how to work with people of a different background. Currently, the only experience I have with collaborating is with my fellow graduate students and my professors--all Mormons, mostly from Utah. Even when I worked with the VA, the project manager was a Mormon, and my partner was my office mate.

In addition to needing to work with a British statistician, I need to be in England. Well...'need' is a strong word. But it would be beneficial for me to be in England because it will get me out of my comfort zone (by a ways) and force me to work with people I have never met before; good preparation for my real life that starts when I graduate.