Education as the key to adult quantitative literacy.


Authors: 
Hashway, R. M., & Austin, D. M.
Category: 
Volume: 
117(4)
Pages: 
592(6)
Year: 
1997
Abstract: 

The influences on adult quantitative literacy were studied using information from the National Adult Literacy Survey, 1,800,000 individuals between 25 and 35 years of age and not in school. The major influences on quantitative literacy were educational background (t=123-; df=1; p[less than].0001), daily television usage (t=1538; df=1; p[less than].0001), and disability (t=713; df=a;p[less than].0001). Education impacted television usage (t=691; df=1;p[less than].0001) and personal yearly income (t=991; df=1;p[less than].0001). Ethnicity affected income levels (t=898; df=1 p[less than].0001), which in turn influenced television viewing (t=1514; df=1; p[less than].0001). The results indicated that education seemed the key to increasing adult levels of quantitative literacy. Library usage, parents' education, and gender did not exhibit any relationship with quantitative literacy

The CAUSE Research Group is supported in part by a member initiative grant from the American Statistical Association’s Section on Statistics and Data Science Education

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