Measuring attitudes towards learning about statistics: Developing a new scale for intervention studies.

Bourne, V J (Victoria)¹, Nesbit, R J (Rachel)¹, Jayes, L T (Lewis)^1
1Royal Holloway, University of London

 

Submission type

Oral only

Scheduled

Sinzendorfzaal, 26-09-2019, 15:30 - 17:00

Keywords

Statistics anxiety, attitudes towards learning, questionnaire development

Summary

Psychology is a popular subject for undergraduate studies in the UK, and statistics is compulsory for degrees accredited by the British Psychological Society. However, up to 80% of psychology undergraduates experience statistics anxiety (Onwuegbuzie & Wilson, 2003). Currently, the Statistics Anxiety Rating Scale (STARS; Cruise, Cash & Bolton, 1985) is the most widely used measure of statistics anxiety. However, it is not suitable in repeated measures studies, such as longitudinal or intervention studies. In this paper we will present a new measure of Attitudes Towards Learning About Statistics (ATLAS), with six distinct dimensions. ATLAS can be used in long form, or in two short forms for repeated measures designs. ATLAS was validated in around 300 psychology undergraduates from 93 different universities across the UK. Factor analysis confirmed six scales: assessment, interpreting statistics, help seeking, worth of statistics, statistics teachers, one’s own numeracy. Internal consistency was good (or better) across all scales.  External validity was confirmed through significant correlations, showing that more positive attitudes are significantly correlated with being more confident in maths, performing better in statistics assignments, and lower levels of trait anxiety. Additionally, all ATLAS scales were significantly correlated with statistics anxiety, as measured by STARS.

Auteurs