The Role of John Tukey in the Development of Statistics (Essay Sample)

The Role of John Tukey in the Development of Statistics
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The Role of John Tukey in the Development of Statistics
John Wilder Tukey, a famous statistician, was born in 1915 in New Bedford, Massachusetts. His early education was school-based up until college. Then, he joined Brown University and obtained a Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in chemistry and proceeded to Princeton University for his Ph.D. in pure mathematics (Brillinger, 2002). After graduating, he became a mathematics instructor at Princeton University and an assistant professor two years later. During War in 1941, Tukey joined the Fire Control Research Office and offered practical warfare solutions, mainly relying on statistics (Brillinger, 2002). His role contributed to him converting his interest towards statistics.
Tukey developed various crucial statistical techniques which some are used in the telecommunication industries today. First, Tukey’s main contribution to statistics was developing robust analysis techniques, which revolutionized data analysis methods for practical problems (Brillinger, 2002). The vital analysis technique guards against the development of wrong conclusions based on incomplete data sets. Secondly, he introduced exploratory data analysis techniques for data presentation (Hinrichs, 2013). When statistical education was mainly based on hypothesis, Tukey introduced the box plots, and the steam and leaf diagrams aided in the visual presentation of data (Hinrichs, 2013). Finally, Tukey introduced the Fourier Transform technique, an analytical tool (Hinrichs, 2013). The method remains a universal tool for the analysis of waveforms in electrical engineering and astrophysics.
According to Hinrichs (2013), John Tukey transformed statistics by questioning existing theories and presenting his insights. His contributions in sta