SOP(s) from 1999

One of the major motivating factors for my decision to take up higher studies in Statistics has been the mathematical essence of the subject, the other is the practical side of Statistics as a tool for solving problems arising in physical world. By and large, several topics in the subject created enough interset in me to take up more comprehensive study in Statistics and carry on research in some of those areas.

I get special pleasure in extracting information out of raw data. At the Indian Statistical Institute, I took courses on Regression Techniques, Time Series Analysis, Design of Experiments, Nonparametric Statistical Methods and Multivariate Analysis which deal with methods and theories that have direct application to various real-life problems. In addition to these, I had a series of courses in Economics during my undergraduate years. I had ample opportunity, while taking these courses, to analyze different types of data-sets. I also took part in a project where I had to analyze financial data for a company and this provided me with an opportunity to study in detail the possible consequences of using various time-series models. It has been my experience that some problems cannot be solved merely by using standard Statistical tools. One of the motivating factors behind my graduate study is to equip myself ably to address such problems.

While emphasizing my interest on the application side, I do not wish to understate my appreciation of Theoretical Statistics. I believe that a sound theoretical background is necessary for a clear and thorough understanding of most statistical problems. This motivated me to take up {\it Mathematical Statistics and Probability} as my Masters'specialization. This specialization offers advanced study in Probability, Inference, Asymptotics, Functional Analysis and Stochastic Processes. These courses helped me develop the theoretical background necessary for advanced research.

My research interests range over a host of topics, but I am particularly interested in doing research in the area of curve estimation . I have done a project on nonparametric regression using wavelets during my Masters' program. There I worked on a Bayesian method proposed by Abramovich {\it et al.}(1998) and developed a test for the hyperparameters of the prior model, based on observed data, before applying the thresholding on the empirical wavelet coefficients. While working on this project, I had to study a fair amount of literature on wavelets and came to know about various possible research topics concerned with nonparametric regression in general and wavelets in particular. Another topic which has interested me greatly is Functional Data Analysis. I have been reading some literature on this topic as well and I consider it as one of my prospective fields of research. Now I am taking a course on spatial statistics and several areas of this topic, particularly the analysis and modelling of space-time processes, interest me greatly. I am also doing a class project which aims at analyzing the spatial effects in seasonal time series data collected at differnt spatial locations .

Finally, it may be worthwhile to briefly mention about why I am trying to get admission to the postgraduate program in the University of Bristol. After completeing my M.Stat. from Indian Statistical Institute, I applied to some universities in the USA for graduate study. I took admission to University of California, Santa Barbara. Here I am currently doing my M.S. in Statistics. This university offers a good environment to carry on research but there is not much opportunity to work in the areas I mentioned before. And in this respect I feel that the University of Bristol would be a place much better suited to my objective.

(DEBASHIS PAUL)