Knowing how to apply statistics is a good way to determine answers to questions. And knowing answers to questions isn't a skill used only by developers; it's a skill useful for <i>every profession</i>.<p>"Data science" is more-or-less a buzzword that sounds cool.
It's new. It's similar to what they already do. It isn't trivial like cat pictures or boring like databases. It's obviously going to be very important. It is believed to involve math. It can be about almost anything, including things people talk about at cocktail parties. Because it is new, it is not necessarily about anything in particular.<p>And it has been talked up for years by attractive, articulate, impressively credentialed and well to do people who seem to be getting everything they want out of life.<p><a href="http://www.hilarymason.com/about/" rel="nofollow">http://www.hilarymason.com/about/</a>