Numbers play an integral part in our lives, particularly in business as more and more professions depend on numerical data. Compiling numbers and interpreting them is the job of a statistician.

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Statisticians design surveys, collect data and interpret the results. They normally work in a particular subject area such as medicine, environment, industry, and government and market research.

When compiling data for market research, for example, the statistician decides who comprises a "sample" audience to be questioned, compiles questions to ask, oversees those who collect the data and then analyzes the results. This data is used for things such as determining consumer or television viewer tendencies or where the next new retail complex should be located. Those who work in industry help improve the efficiency of production of goods and services by predicting their demand and working with companies to design processes to meet these demands.

Government statisticians compile all kinds of information from unemployment figures to import/export data. They also do surveys of households and businesses. The accuracy of the statisticians' analyses is critical since government officials then use the data to form policy and establish social programs.

It is more than just stats, though. "A statistician who works in medicine or in a manufacturing plant . . . must learn enough medicine or engineering to understand the data in their setting," according to the American Statistical Association. Many must pursue a formal education in the field in which they are working or plan to work.

One example of the need for this is shown in the career opportunities section of the ASA Web site, where a California pharmaceutical company is looking for a manager in biostatistics. The job requires a PhD in statistics and six years pharmaceutical experience, working knowledge of one scientific programming language and one statistical software package.

A bachelor's degree in either statistics or mathematics is the most common education level for statisticians. Senior consultants and university faculty normally require a doctorate. Prospective statisticians should have a strong background in computers and have good communications skills, as well, in order to explain complex statistical processes and results to those outside of the statistics field.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, one possible place of employment for a statistician, the average annual salary for mathematical statisticians was $65,660 in 1997.