Thanks for the wealth of Excel trivia. Use the right tool for the job, I say.
Excel might not be it.
I do have to take a little offense to the accuracy remark regarding business
calcs -- I learned early on that bcd reals or integer-based math libs were
the only appropriate mechanisms for business calcs. I prefer not to use regular
real/float types if I have alternatives. But I'm a measurement/data acq man.
We can be a bit, well, anal about accuracy.
A CS program more aligned with the needs of science, business, or econ might
be found, but CS is a general thing. The idea is that with the help of content
experts or reference books the capable CS grad could do good work. If the
programmers involved slapped out some code and then went roller skating
(apologies to Dilbert) then they didn't do a good job. My 11 years in the
software side of embedded systems has contained too many recommendations to
peers about spending time to understand the customer's needs. IMHO it is more
of a process issue than a knowledge base problem. I took stats as an elective
when I was an electronics engr tech undergrad because I thought it would be
handy.
> From what I have observed, many business type have a very limited math
background, and even learning simple business stat is a major problem. For
example try getting them to understand the difference between using z and
t tests,
Yes, but the idea again is to be a generalist who makes use of content
experts. I am now in an MBA program and have found that if I want to delve
into stats I do it on my own. I do wish that I'd had more stats exposure in
my data analysis or econ coursework. "Stats for MBAs" would be great. Given
my software background, "Stats for programmers" would be even better.
When does the class start? ;)
--
Still thinking different: Newton 2100.
Posted with Ink Spot for Newton.
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