A Census of Statistics Requirements at U.S. Journalism Programs and a Model for a “Statistics for Journalism” Course

Abstract

This essay presents data from a census of statistics requirements and offerings at all 4-year journalism programs in the United States ( N = 369) and proposes a model of a potential course in statistics for journalism majors. The author proposes that three philosophies underlie a statistics course for journalism students. Such a course should (a) represent a statistics course with journalism, not a journalism course seasoned with a few statistics; (b) encourage awareness of error and skepticism of omniscience of official figures; and (c) cultivate statistical enthusiasts, not formulae repositories. Findings report students in just one fifth of U.S. journalism programs are required to take statistics, and none of those programs offer a course within their own academic unit that fulfills a traditional statistics requirement.

Defining and Teaching Data Journalism: A Typology

“…Equally challenging is teaching statistics. A stats course was required in just 19% of the 369 four-year undergraduate journalism programs in the United States, and all of those were taught in other departments (Martin, 2017). Understanding statistics is essential for data journalists to understand what they are visualizing, yet such reasoning is rarely taught in universities (A.…”

Articulating Statistics in Science News in Arab Newspapers: The Cases of Egypt, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia

“…One of the elements that helps journalists present statistical information easily and accurately is education and training. However, in some countries, universities lack statistics courses or comprehensive provision to support future journalists (Martin 2016). In the case of the Arab region, the lack of statistics education among journalists has also been noted (Alhumood, Shami, and Safia 2016;Ibnrubbian 2016).…”

Data Journalism

“…Statistical literacy is rarely taught, even though administrators say it is important (Dunwoody & Griffin, 2013). A census of 369 U.S. journalism programs found statistics was not required in 79% of the programs, and none offered its own statistics course (Martin, 2017). Similarly, numeracy has long been absent from journalism programs in England (Harrison, 2014).…”

“…Educators should consider whether numeracy and basic statistics are best inserted into an existing required course, such as reporting, or taught as stand-alone courses. If the latter, journalism educators should consider whether to outsource the teaching to other departments or create a journalism-specific approach as Martin (2017) recommended.…”