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Abstract
Statistics arose in part out of the interplay between mathematics and the data-analytic needs of various applied sciences (Stigler 1999). Close linkages to mathematics and to research-oriented fields have prompted debate over the emergence of statistics as a distinct field of study. Efforts to differentiate statistics from mathematics have drawn attention to its unique history, questions, and content. Insofar as statistics is an evolving subject area, with academic and practical ties to a number of disciplines and professions, it continues to benefit from the examination of its origins, nature, and unfolding. This article contributes to this general goal through a review of (a) early definitions of statistics, (b) recent discussions of disciplinary boundaries, (c) twentieth-century reform views on including statistics topics in school mathematics, and (d) the impact of curricular and pedagogic factors on the uniformity of the discipline.