Data Scientist The Hottest New Job? High pay, high demand?

According to the McKinsey Global Institute, the best career to go after is that of a Data Scientist. Supposed salary in excess of 6 figures and very high demand. According to the article, NYU is addressing this need with an associated master's degree.

What do you think? I'm concerned that this is the perfect kind of job to be outsourced to India for pennies on the dollar.

Of course, this was found on Yahoo news, which is often not the most reliable source of news. Hottest Job of the 21st Century? Bet on This | Big Data Download - Yahoo! Finance

 

Yahoo Education articles suck. But this idea has been around for a little bit (Data Scientist as a career). Here's an article from 2012 and a link to a Coursera course in Data Science (Hurry starts today! May 1st).

Why becoming a data scientist might be easier than you think — Tech News and Analysis

https://www.coursera.org/#course/datasci

 

I assume this degree is perfect for DL folks..

URL: http://www.uah.edu/images/distance_learning/pdfs/doctor%20of%20philosophy%20in%20modeling%20and%20simulation%20program%20v3.pdf

 

I assume is it somewhat like an actuary.

 

Or maybe business analytics?

 

There is a difference:

(1) One group = followers of a religion
(2) Other group = owners of lethal weapons - purpose-built to kill.

Johann

 

My point exactly, Steve.

Here, we Canadians are sometimes referred to (usually by comedians) as "unarmed Americans with health care."

Well, I don't mind that label at all. Makes me proud! Due in part to our (largely anti-) gun laws, US murder rates DWARF ours! Our large cities (we don't have all that many) have murdrer rates as low as one-tenth that of your large cities! Our absolute worst (Winnipeg MB) has a rate per 100K less than one-quarter of the worst US rates.

Yeah -- I'm OK with that. And I'm still not OK with assertions that any group of gun owners is in any way analogous to the followers of a major world religion.

Johann

 

That would be the second time in this thread that the point sailed over her head.

In a related note, I live about 2hrs from the Canadian border. Every time I travel in the deep south people ask me if I'm Canadian! Which just floors me, since I can tell I'm talking to a western Canadian person within about 3-4 words.

 

OK, you got me fair & square Steve - I misinterpreted what you wrote entirely, in my gun-control crazed zeal. Yes - gun control restricts (does not eliminate) access to firearms for law-abiding people. The way it works here, it must also be restricting (sadly, not eliminating) access by criminals -- hence our much lower murder rates.

Our criminals here get many of their guns via the U.S. Guns are bought "legally" in America for a couple of hundred $, then muled over the border and re-sold to criminals for oh- maybe $2,000 from what I've heard... Canadian gun runners are avid shoppers on the Armslist-type sites! Like our drug problem, it will never go away while it pays this kind of money!

I promise I'll try not to poop on the board next time we play chess. My bad -- I know the proper moves and shouldn't forget 'em. But I am against the easy kind of access to firearms you have in the U.S. And our murder stats lend credence to my view.


Johann

 

Your (Canadian) murder stats lend credence to other views as well such as populations by race and ethnic origin. But we should probably shun discussing crime rates via populations based on race as we turn over a new leaf that most people wish not to look at.

For instance look at my neighbors to the east and then to the North and compare 2011 murder rates. In Idaho it is legal to own a fully automatic machinegun. I'm not talking about an AR-15 the most hated gun for scared hippies everywhere, and actual OMFGBBQLOLZZZZ automatic machinegun! What do you think the murder rate is in Idaho? According to FBI UCR's it's 2.3 per 100,000 people which is in fact lower than Northwest Territories (6.87) Nova Scotia (2.33), Manitoba (4.24), Saskatchewan (3.59), and Alberta (2.88).

There's a lot more to murder rates than the implement used to execute those murders. But I get that you are scared of guns and the criminals that use them to commit crimes. That's OK, you can be afraid of inanimate objects all you'd like, but just because you like subjugation and the equality of helplessness does not mean that your freedom should lie in another man's (mine) containment.

 

It's interesting what data can be found on the FBI website and other sites.

2011 Murder by Weapon
- All firearms 67.8%
- Handguns 49.1%
- Rifles 2.6% <-- All rifles, not just assault rifles
- Shotguns 2.8%
- Knife 13.4%
- Club/Hammer 3.9%
- Hands/Feet 5.7%
Source: FBI Expanded Homicide Data Table 11

2011 Justifiable Homicide by Private Citizen - 201 by using firearm
Source: FBI Expanded Homicide Data Table 15

2011 USA Population By Race - Black 13.1%, White 78.1%, Other 8.8%
Source: USA QuickFacts - US Census Bureau

2011 Known Murder Offenders by Race - Black 52.4%, White 45.2%, Other 2.4%)
Source: FBI Expanded Homicide Data Table 3

 

:hijacked: Not that I actually care, I don't mind, but it's funny how a thread about being a data scientist has become a debate about gun control.

 

The attempted analogy of Muslims and gun advocates appeared in this thread. (Sig line). So I objected to it here. That's how we got started. I still object to it. I apologized for misinterpreting Steve's remarks. We obviously have different views, but that's OK.

Yes - I am. But most days, the thought doesn't bother me much, as it's WAY less of a problem in Canada. Guess I'll have to stay here. Shouldn't be a problem. :smile: Now you good folks can get on with your discussion of careers as Data Scientists. :smile:

Johann

 

No way! This was much more interesting. Now we need to talk about data scientists who use guns. :smile:

 

Combining skills as a data scientist along with a background in epidemiology might be interesting.