<p>I am aiming to do my masters in Astronomy, and I would prefer it to be on the data side of it. I am looking to skill-up and am confused if I should take up <em>Data Analytics</em> courses or <em>Data Science</em> courses.</p>
<p>Is it possible to describe the difference between these in the context of Astronomy?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-05-14T17:56:30.363Z
I would generally agree with ScienceSnake above but, at some institutions Data Science might be more concerned with data acquisition instrumention and means of acquiring data and the related equipment rather than analysis of data.
tckosvic
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-05-15T09:14:02.333Z
This is a good question, and despite the comments it could turn out to be a good Astronomy Stack Exchange question. Then again, it might not. But if the question is too-quickly closed and answers blocked, we won't be able to find out. **voting to leave open!** Here's a good book to consider: [Statistics, Data Mining, and Machine Learning in Astronomy: A Practical Python Guide for the Analysis of Survey Data, Updated Edition](https://press.princeton.edu/our-authors/vanderplas-jacob-t)
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-05-15T09:14:04.880Z
I'd say given the choice, vanderPlas would have called himself a "data scientists" rather than a "data analyticist" but that's only one person.
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-05-15T13:04:28.290Z
This is an excellent question that can clarify many nuances that are important to astronomical practice.
ayr
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-05-15T13:43:57.577Z
The terms may have slightly different meanings, but course titles are not reliable.  Courses titles are set up to last for years, but then get taught by different professors with different interests.  However, you always have to understand how the data was taken if you are going to analyze them properly.
eshaya
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-05-16T02:13:12.063Z
This portal on Astrostatistics and astroinformatics (both statistics and informatics are very important for modern astronomy) has a list of [methodology books](https://asaip.psu.edu/resources/recent-books/methodology-books-for-astronomy/) which has short reviews and links for many other potentially relevant books.
astrosnapper
<data-analysis><education>
Astronomers need Data Analytics or Data Science?
Akriti Rajput
# Astronomers need Data Analytics or Data Science?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-05-14)

I am aiming to do my masters in Astronomy, and I would prefer it to be on the data side of it. I am looking to skill-up and am confused if I should take up *Data Analytics* courses or *Data Science* courses.

Is it possible to describe the difference between these in the context of Astronomy?

**Tags:** data-analysis, education

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I would generally agree with ScienceSnake above but, at some institutions Data Science might be more concerned with data acquisition instrumention and means of acquiring data and the related equipment rather than analysis of data.  
> **username_2**: This is a good question, and despite the comments it could turn out to be a good Astronomy Stack Exchange question. Then again, it might not. But if the question is too-quickly closed and answers blocked, we won't be able to find out. **voting to leave open!** Here's a good book to consider: [Statistics, Data Mining, and Machine Learning in Astronomy: A Practical Python Guide for the Analysis of Survey Data, Updated Edition](https://press.princeton.edu/our-authors/vanderplas-jacob-t)  
> **username_2**: I'd say given the choice, vanderPlas would have called himself a "data scientists" rather than a "data analyticist" but that's only one person.  
> **username_3**: This is an excellent question that can clarify many nuances that are important to astronomical practice.  
> **username_4**: The terms may have slightly different meanings, but course titles are not reliable.  Courses titles are set up to last for years, but then get taught by different professors with different interests.  However, you always have to understand how the data was taken if you are going to analyze them properly.  
> **username_5**: This portal on Astrostatistics and astroinformatics (both statistics and informatics are very important for modern astronomy) has a list of [methodology books](https://asaip.psu.edu/resources/recent-books/methodology-books-for-astronomy/) which has short reviews and links for many other potentially relevant books.  

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## 0 answers

