Teaching statistics to the rest of humanity


Book: 
The Second International Conference on Teaching Statistics, 1986
Authors: 
Gilchrist, W.
Editors: 
Davidson, R., & Swift, J.
Category: 
Pages: 
494-497
Year: 
1986
Publisher: 
The Second International Committee on Teaching Statistics
Place: 
Victoria, B.C.
Abstract: 

Statistics is taught widely in the UK as an element of mathematics up to age 16. Over a quarter of a million children taking examinations involving statistics or mathematics with statistical elements. At the age of 18 the examinations involving the use of statistics show a different pattern. Some 50 thousand pupils take statistics or mathematics with statistical elements, but over 100 thousand take examinations in geography, biology, psychology, etc. involving significant elements of statistics. Thus the prime interest in statistics comes not from those with a specialist interest but from the "rest of humanity" who need statistics to support their other interests. The aim of this paper is to explore some of the implications of this fact.

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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