Gender Influence on Statistics Anxiety among Graduate Students
Journal of Research in Science, Mathematics and Technology Education, Volume 4, Issue 2, May 2021, pp. 63-74
OPEN ACCESS VIEWS: 787 DOWNLOADS: 672 Publication date: 15 May 2021
OPEN ACCESS VIEWS: 787 DOWNLOADS: 672 Publication date: 15 May 2021
ABSTRACT
The present study was conducted to further explore gender-based differences in the experience of statistics anxiety among graduate students. A sample of 75 graduate students from a mid-sized research university in the southeastern United States were recruited to participate in a survey concerning statistics anxiety. Data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance and discriminant analysis. Using the Statistics Anxiety Rating Scale, students’ statistics anxiety was measured. After accounting for age, the findings revealed a significant gender difference in statistics anxiety. A significant covariate effect of age indicated that older graduate students reported experiencing higher levels of anxiety as compared to their younger peers. Age accounted for 21% of variance in the combined statistics anxiety subscales. Analysis further revealed that males experienced higher levels of anxiety when seeking statistics help from a fellow student or a professor than did females. Implications for the design of statistics courses are discussed.
KEYWORDS
Age, Gender, Graduate students, Statistics anxiety.
CITATION (APA)
Edirisooriya, M. L., & Lipscomb, T. J. (2021). Gender Influence on Statistics Anxiety among Graduate Students. Journal of Research in Science, Mathematics and Technology Education, 4(2), 63-74. https://doi.org/10.31756/jrsmte.421
REFERENCES
- Baloğlu, M. (2003). Individual differences in statistics anxiety among college students. Personality and Individual
- Differences, 34(5), 855–865. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(02)00076-4
- Baloğlu, M., Deniz, M. E., & Kesici, Ş. (2011). A descriptive study of individual and cross-cultural differences in statistics anxiety. Learning and Individual Differences, 21(4), 387–391. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2011.03.003
- Brandish, E. K., & Baldwin, D. S. (2012). Anxiety disorders. Medicine, 40(11), 599–606.
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mpmed.2012.08.017
- Bui, N. H., & Alfaro, M. A. (2011). Statistics anxiety and science attitudes: Age, gender, and ethnicity factors.
- College Student Journal, 45(3), 573–586.
- Chew, P. K. H., & Dillon, D. B. (2014a). Statistics anxiety and the big five personality factors. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 112, 1177–1186. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.01.1282
- Chew, P. K. H., & Dillon, D. B. (2014b). Statistics anxiety update: Refining the construct and recommendations for a new research agenda. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 9(2), 196–208. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691613518077
- Coetzee, S., & Merwe, P. van der. (2010). Industrial psychology students’ attitudes towards statistics. SA Journal of
- Industrial Psychology, 36(1), 8 pages. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajip.v36i1.843
- Collins, K. M. T., & Onwuegbuzie, A. J. (2007). I cannot read my statistics textbook: The relationship between reading ability and statistics anxiety. Journal of Negro Education, 76(2), 118–129. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40034551
- Cruise, R. J., Cash, R. W., & Bolton, D. L. (1985). Development and validation of an instrument to measure statistical anxiety. Proceedings of the Section on Statistical Education, 92–97.
- Cui, S., Zhang, J., Guan, D., Zhao, X., & Si, J. (2019). Antecedents of statistics anxiety: An integrated account.
- Personality and Individual Differences, 144, 79–87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2019.02.036
- Dykeman, B. F. (2011). Statistics anxiety: Antecedents and instructional interventions. Education, 132(2), 441–446.
- Faber, G., & Drexler, H. (2020). Predicting education science students’ statistics anxiety: The role of prior experiences within a framework of domain-specific motivation constructs. Higher Learning Research Communications, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.18870/hlrc.v9i1.435
- Galla, B. M., & Wood, J. J. (2012). Emotional self-efficacy moderates anxiety-related impairments in math performance in elementary school-age youth. Personality and Individual Differences, 52(2), 118–122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2011.09.012
- Hanna, D., Shevlin, M., & Dempster, M. (2008). The structure of the statistics anxiety rating scale: A confirmatory factor analysis using UK psychology students. Personality and Individual Differences, 45(1), 68–74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2008.02.021
- Hsiao, T., & Chiang, S. (2011). Gender differences in statistics anxiety among graduate students learning English as a foreign language. Social Behavior and Personality, 39(1), 41. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.2011.39.1.41
- Hsu, M. K., Wang, S. W., & Chiu, K. K. (2009). Computer attitude, statistics anxiety and self-efficacy on statistical software adoption behavior: An empirical study of online MBA learners. Computers in Human Behavior, 25(2), 412–420. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2008.10.003
- Jehu, D. (1970). The role of social workers in behavior therapy. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental
- Psychiatry, 1(1), 17–28. https://doi.org/10.1016/0005-7916(70)90017-0
- Koh, D., & Zawi, M. K. (2014). Statistics Anxiety among Postgraduate Students. International Education Studies, 7(13). https://doi.org/10.5539/ies.v7n13p166
- Lavasani, M. G., Weisani, M., & Ejei, J. (2011). The role of achievement goals, academic motivation, and learning strategies in statistics anxiety: Testing a causal model. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 15, 1881– 1886. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.04.020
- Lavasani, M. G., Weisani, M., & Shariati, F. (2014). The role of achievement goals, academic motivation in statistics anxiety: Testing a causal model. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 114, 933–938. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.12.810
- Liu, L., & Haque, M. D. (2017). Age difference in research course satisfaction in a blended Ed.D. program: A moderated mediation model of the effects of internet self- efficacy and statistics anxiety. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, 20(2). https://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/summer202/liu_haque202.html
- Luttenberger, S., Wimmer, S., & Paechter, M. (2018). Spotlight on math anxiety. Psychology Research and
- Behavior Management, 11, 311–322. https://doi.org/10.2147/PRBM.S141421
- Macher, D., Paechter, M., Papousek, I., & Ruggeri, K. (2012). Statistics anxiety, trait anxiety, learning behavior, and academic performance. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 27(4), 483–498.
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-011-0090-5
- Macher, D., Paechter, M., Papousek, I., Ruggeri, K., Freudenthaler, H. H., & Arendasy, M. (2013). Statistics anxiety, state anxiety during an examination, and academic achievement. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 83(4), 535–549. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8279.2012.02081.x
- Mji, A. (2009). Differences in university students’ attitudes and anxiety about statistics. Psychological Reports, 104(3), 737–744. https://doi.org/10.2466/PR0.104.3.737-744
- Mondéjar-Jiménez, J., & Vargas-Vargas, M. (2010). Determinant factors of attitude towards quantitative subjects:
- Differences between sexes. Teaching and Teacher Education, 26(3), 688–693. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2009.10.004
- Onwuegbuzie, A. J., & Wilson, V. A. (2003). Statistics Anxiety: Nature, etiology, antecedents, effects, and treatments–a comprehensive review of the literature. Teaching in Higher Education, 8(2), 195–209. https://doi.org/10.1080/1356251032000052447
- Paechter, M., Macher, D., Martskvishvili, K., Wimmer, S., & Papousek, I. (2017). Mathematics anxiety and statistics anxiety. Shared but also unshared components and antagonistic contributions to performance in statistics. Frontiers in Psychology, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01196
- Pan, W., & Tang, M. (2005). Students’ perceptions on factors of statistics anxiety and instructional strategies. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 32(3), 205–214.
- Rodarte-Luna, B., & Sherry, A. (2008). Sex differences in the relation between statistics anxiety and cognitive/learning strategies. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 33(2), 327–344. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2007.03.002
- Smith, T. F., & Capuzzi, G. (2019). Using a mindset intervention to reduce anxiety in the statistics classroom.
- Psychology Learning & Teaching, 18(3), 326–336. https://doi.org/10.1177/1475725719836641
LICENSE
![Creative Commons License](https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/4.0/88x31.png)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.