The effect of context on the teaching of statistics at first year university level

In 1993 a sample of 102 class members participated in an exploratory study which consisted of ten pairs of statistical questions. For each pair students were asked to specify which of the two options they felt that they would prefer to answer if they were required to or if they had no preference. They were also asked if they could say why they chose particular options. This study clearly indicated that in some ares the students had very definite preferences (70% or more of the group) for particular contexts over others.