Attitudes Towards Statistics in Secondary Education: Findings from fsQCA

Abstract

Students report a high degree of anxiety and reduced self-confidence when facing statistical subjects, especially in secondary education. This anxiety turns into poor academic performance. Most studies have used linear models for studying the interrelation between different attitudes and proving their impact on performance or related variables. This study uses a different approach to explain and better understand the causal patterns of factors stimulating lower levels of anxiety in students when facing statistics in secondary education. We employed the Multi-factorial Scale of Attitudes Toward Statistics (MSATS) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) on a sample of 95 secondary school students in Spain. We identified the recipes or causal combination of factors, leading to low and high levels of anxiety. The results indicate that self-confidence and motivation are important factors in these recipes, but there is no single necessary condition that ensures lower levels of anxiety.

Anxiety towards Statistics and Its Relationship with Students’ Attitudes and Learning Approach

“…These results are in line with the results in [ 29 ] that highlight the core role of self-confidence in the achievement of lower levels of anxiety.…”

“…The results of the significance of this relationship found in previous studies are contradictory [ 22 ]. These contradictory results seem to be affected by the different variables considered in the studies, by how the relationships between these variables are conceived [ 8 , 29 ] (i.e., as direct or mediated relationships) and by the context of the study. However, it is generally accepted that negative attitudes increase the level of anxiety and produce lower achievement [ 30 ].…”

“…Previous closely related studies found in a limited sample some attitudes to be relevant in the causal combinations that lead to positive and negative levels of anxiety [ 29 ]. This study includes a broader sample and explores the role of the learning strategy in the relationship between students’ attitudes towards statistics and students’ anxiety.…”

Can Mathematics Achievement Be Predicted? The Role of Cognitive–Behavioral–Emotional Variables

“…The components are interrelated and contribute to mathematics achievement to some extent and to the learning of mathematics. Besides, several studies have found that mathematics anxiety towards tests and exams predicts achievement [30], with anxiety being considered by some authors [31,32] as the component of attitude that is the most strongly related to achievement [33].…”

Un modelo bifactor para la Escala de Actitudes hacia la Estadística

“…El estudio de las actitudes hacia la estadística es de interés para los investigadores en el campo educativo (Peiró-Signes, Trull, Segarra-Oña, & García-Díaz, 2020). La estadística forma parte del currículo académico en la mayoría de las carreras universitarias , incluida la psicología (Comas, Martins, Nascimento, & Estrada, 2017).…”