Individual differences in statistics anxiety among college students

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Abstract

The present study investigated differences in statistics anxiety levels based on students' gender and age. Using the statistics anxiety scores of 246 college students, a 2×3 between-subjects factorial multivariate analysis of covariance was performed on the six dependent variables (worth of statistics, interpretation anxiety, test and class anxiety, computational self-concept, fear of asking for help, and fear of statistics teachers) that were hypothesized to be six dimensions of statistics anxiety. Independent variables were gender and age. Previous mathematics experience (PME) was entered as a covariate. The results showed that PME was significant and accounted for 17% of the variance in the combined dependent variables. There was no significant interaction effect and no significant main effect for gender. After adjusting for the effects of the covariate, a significant main effect for age was found. Older students showed significantly higher statistics test and class anxiety than younger students, even though older students showed the most positive attitudes toward the usefulness of statistics.

Section snippets

Participants

Of the total 246 college students who volunteered to participate in the present study, there were 183 (74.4%) women and 63 (25.6%) men. Participants' age ranged from 18 to 57 years with a mean of 27.15 years (SD=8.84). In terms of college status, 2 (0.8%) were freshmen, 20 (8.2%) were sophomores, 74 (30.2%) were juniors, 94 (38.4%) were seniors, and 55 (22.4%) were graduate students. One student did not indicate her college status. A variety of study majors were represented in the present

Results

Previous mathematics experience (PME) scores ranged from 4 to 592 with a mean of 218 (SD=129.28). Means and standard deviations of the Statistical Anxiety Rating Scale (STARS) scores on different age groups of men and women are presented in Table 1. Older women showed the highest total statistics anxiety (M=133.33, SD=34.71), whereas older men experienced the least total statistics anxiety (M=114.15, SD=34.89). Intercorrelations, means, and standard deviations of the STARS total and subscale

Discussion

Studies that address the problems associated with teaching statistics have increased in recent years. Anxiety has been found to be one of the most prevalent attitudinal problems associated with statistics courses (Baloğlu, 2001, Benson, 1989, Birenbaum and Eylath, 1994, Gal and Ginsburg, 1994, Perney and Ravid, 1990, Zeidner, 1991). Researchers have clustered variables that affect statistics anxiety around three main factors: personality-related, course-related, and person-related

Acknowledgements

The author expresses his gratitude to Dr. James Stacks, Dr. Sybil Eysenck, and the anonymous reviewer, whose comments and suggestions led to a more comprehensive paper.

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