Statistics


New Econ Class Sails into Top Enrollment Rankings as Ec 10b Maintains Dominance for Sixth Year

Economics 10B: “Principles of Economics” has long reigned as spring semester's most enrolled-in class, but this year the course saw a new contender from within its own department — the brand new course Economics 1152: “Big Data," which had just 32 fewer students.


Harvard Launches Data Science Initiative

Harvard has launched the Data Science Initiative, a University-wide program that aims to bring together data scientists in different fields.


Stats Department Expands to Accommodate Upward Trend in Concentrators

​After a statistically significant growth in concentrators in recent years, several professors say Harvard’s Statistics Department is reaching its limit.


Grad Student Lecture Series Asks Audience to Think Differently

​Student-nominated speakers from each of Harvard’s 12 graduate schools presented TED-talk style mini-lectures at the 6th annual “Lectures that Last,” in front of a packed 830-person Memorial Church audience Saturday evening.


Controversial Study Photographed 29 Courses in Total

Harvard Initiative for Learning and Teaching researchers photographed students in 29 courses during a controversial attendance study last spring, the researchers said Thursday when pressed to disclose the exact number of courses studied.


10Q: Christian T. Rudder ’97 OkCupid Co-Founder

Christian T. Rudder ’97 is not a statistician by trade, but the 39-year-old founder of OkCupid just so happens to be a pioneer in a certain branch of data analytics—the data behind love and romance.


With Big Data on the Rise, Blitzstein Boosts Stats at Harvard

Despite growing interest nationwide in statistics and “big data” over the past decade, students and faculty in the department have said that much of the new excitement for the field at Harvard is due to Blitzstein’s personal commitment to teaching and the enormous influence he has had on the undergraduate body.


Chess with Blitzstein & Elkies: The Pawn is Mightier than the Sword

Both Blitzstein and Elkies are known to be terrific chess players. Blitzstein is ranked as an “Expert” by the US Chess Federation, placing him in the 98th percentile of tournament players. Elkies is ranked even one step higher as a “Master,” and specializes in solving and composing chess problems. Both have been playing chess for as long as they can remember, but the serious mathematicians have found it difficult to find time for their favorite game at Harvard. FM asked the two to revive their passion for a quick match of speed chess.


CS50, Stat 110 See Continued Increases in Enrollment

In fall 2009, computer science lecturer David J. Malan welcomed 337 aspiring coders to his introductory computer science course CS50. Four years later, the course’s enrollment has more than doubled, closing in on—but just failing to surpass—the introductory economics course Ec 10a as Harvard’s most popular class.


Concentration Satisfaction: Class of 2012

As freshmen enter the second week of Advising Fortnight, Flyby presents a complete set of data from the Class of 2012's concentration satisfaction ratings. For all freshmen looking to narrow down the list of potential concentrations, sophomores or juniors curious about their chosen concentrations, and seniors reflecting on their undergraduate careers, here are the stats from last year's graduating seniors on how satisfied they were with their respective concentrations. Check out our four interactive graphs showing overall satisfaction rates among Humanities, Natural Sciences, SEAS, and Social Sciences concentrators in the Class of 2012.


On Wednesday night in the Science Center, a panel discusses how they incorporate statistics with their professions. Representatives from Applied Predictive Technologies, DC Energy, AlphaSimplex Group, Milliman, and Obama for America join Professor Joseph K. Blitzstein in talking about how statistics classes translate into the real world. This article has been revised to reflect the following correction: CORRECTION: April 8, 2013 An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the names of several companies that sent representatives to a panel discussing statistics in the professional world. In fact, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and Getco LLC did not participate in the event, while AlphaSimplex Group, Milliman, and Obama for America did.


Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

With help from professors Andrew Berry, Stephen Blyth, and Steven Pinker, Fifteen Minutes celebrates Dr. Seuss's birthday and National Read Across America Day by reading an abridged version of Dr. Seuss's "Fox in Sox."


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