Overcoming Undergraduate Resistance to Quantitative Methods

• In Event: Roundtable: Teaching Criminology

Abstract

Most undergraduate social science programs require courses in statistics and research methods. More often than not, quantitative methods are emphasized (sometimes exclusively). The Statistics Anxiety Rating Scale (STARS) (Cruise et al., 1985) is intended to measure six sources of anxiety. This discussion will focus on two of them “interpretation anxiety” and “worth” (the student’s assessment of the relevance of statistics to their personal and/or professional life). Anxiety has been linked to “a lower level of content understanding” (Lin, et at, 2016) and even exists among graduate students (Williams, 2010). It is plausible to predict that the belief I’ll never need or use these skills’ will reduce learning. A significant percentage of students delay taking these course as long as possible. This can negatively impact critical thinking and analysis in other courses and other disciplines. Our challenge is reduce the math anxiety and convince the students that basic statistical and methodological skills will serve them well in other courses and long after they graduate.

Authors

• Thomas Arvanites, Villanova University

• Maribeth L. Rezey, Loyola University Chicago