Dept. Studies Statistics As Major Field

The newly-formed Department of Statistics is "very interested" in the possibility of establishing an undergraduate field of concentration in statistics, department chairman Charles F. Mosteller revealed yesterday. A special departmental committee has been studying the field since September to establish degree requirements.

Mosteller stated that the field of statistics, with its applications in the areas of social sciences, biology, radiation fall-out and many others, was definitely large enough for a field of concentration.

Study Problem Thoroughly

The committee, which includes Mosteller and John W. Pratt, assistant professor of Statistics, has been in operation since September. "We are setting no deadline for ourselves," Mosteller asserted. "We will study the problem until we can resolve it properly, even though we may not finish until next year."

The Department of Statistics now recommends graduate students for Masters and Ph.D. degrees in Statistics and in various combined fields. The Department's curriculum in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences has shown "the core of what the undergraduate field should include."

The group has created several tentative programs, but they require much deeper study, Mosteller said. "We must consider the relationship between the student's general education and his field of concentration," he stated.

Mosteller commented that the whole concept of combined fields on the undergraduate level is not entirely clear.