Discovering Statistics: Discovering Sexism, Racism, and Ideological Contradictions

• In Event: Millennium Hotel Roundtable Session 2
  In Roundtable Session: Readings of Curriculum as Political Ideologies, Possibilities, and Contradictions in Textbooks

Abstract

This study employs thematic content analysis to examine the problematic representations of difference in a popular statistics textbook, Andy Field’s (2014) Discovering Statistics Using IBM SPSS Statistics. Findings show that Discovering Statistics reproduces and reifies sexism and racism, among other types of discrimination. Furthermore, various contradictions occur both within the textbook itself as well as between the ideological stance taken by its author and the broader social milieu within which the textbook exists. The textbook’s awareness and simultaneous neglect of its offensive content reflects broader contemporary tensions between calls to address urgent social problems and the resistance from those who view social justice as a threat.

Author

• Agata Soroko, University of Ottawa