A statistical study about factors that can influence the rate of correct answers in the ENEM

Abstract

The National Secondary Education Examination -ENEM was created in 1998 with the purpose of evaluating the performance of graduates from the last stage of basic education in Brazil. However, today, this exam has taken on a relevant position as it has become the main gateway to undergraduate courses for the overwhelming majority of Brazilian universities. The initial hypothesis -seed of this debate -is that some statistical variables can influence the rate of correct answers in the ENEM, especially the variables linked to socioeconomic conditions. In this research, we seek to identify these variables, considering only the percentages of correct answers in two areas of knowledge: Languages, Codes and their Technologies, and Mathematics and their Technologies. Furthermore, it is important to point out that the participants of this investigation are those candidates who managed to enter the ''Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte'' -UFRN in 2018 through ENEM. The discussions woven here were supported by concepts inherent to Descriptive Statistics, measures of Central Tendency and the graphical resources of the Histogram and the Box Diagram. Among the variables studied, it was found that "father's education"; "mother's education"; "Internet availability" and "family income" influenced the ENEM correct answers.