Literature Index

Displaying 471 - 480 of 3326
  • Author(s):
    Slovic, P., Fischhoff, B., & Lichtenstein, S.
    Year:
    1984
    Abstract:
    Behavioral decision theory can contribute in many ways to the management and regulation of risk. In recent years, empirical and theoretical research on decision making under risk has produced a body of knowledge that should be of value to those who seek to understand and improve societal decisions. This paper describes several components of this research, which is guided by the assumption that all those involved with high-risk technologies as promoters, regulators, politicians, or citizens need to understand how they and the others think about risk. Without such understanding, well-intended policies may be ineffective, perhaps even counterproductive.
  • Author(s):
    Brewer, J. K.
    Editors:
    Davidson, R., & Swift, J.
    Year:
    1986
    Abstract:
    Numerous writers have argued quite forcefully that users of statistics in the behavioral sciences have been guilty of misunderstanding and misapplying even the most rudimentary concepts and procedures of applied statistics. Why is this the case when almost rudimentary concepts and procedures of applied statistics. Why is this the case when almost every university and college in America has several departments teaching applied statistics courses in the behavioral sciences? We are quick to hold researchers responsible for statistical abuses, but it may well be that researchers are only parroting what they have read or been taught. Since the most common element in almost all teaching of behavioral statistics is the textbook, could it not be that the textbook is a source of statistical "myths and misconceptions" so often denounced as misleading and inappropriate? A conceivable source of statistical misconceptions and errors occurring in the published literature, theses, and dissertations is the behavioral statistics textbook. To illustrate the nature and extent of myths and misconceptions found in some of the best-selling introductory behavioral statistics textbooks is the purpose of this paper.
  • Author(s):
    Reid, A., & Petocz, P.
    Editors:
    Rossman, A., & Chance, B.
    Year:
    2006
    Abstract:
    Teachers undertaking educational research for the first time usually begin their explorations by evaluating some aspect of their practice. By contrast, experienced researchers will start from an argued research question supported by a defined theoretical framework. In this paper, we use a critical discourse approach to explore various interpretive research paradigms that are commonly used to investigate aspects of statistics education. By considering the underlying epistemological positions and critiquing the approaches and methods used to explore human action in social situations, we become more critical in the design, implementation and reporting of research in statistics education.
  • Author(s):
    Konold, C.
    Year:
    1988
    Abstract:
    One of the most common misconceptions about probability is the belief that successive outcomes of a random process are not independent. This belief has been dubbed the "gambler's fallacy". The belief that non-normative expectations such as the gambler's fallacy are widely held has inspired probability and statistics instruction that attempts to counter such beliefs. This study presents an investigation of student performance pre and post instruction on problems dealing with these kinds of statistical misconceptions. Instruction consisted of 10 laboratory sessions, 1.5 hours each, delivered to 16 high school students attending a summer mathematics program at Mount Holyoke College (Massachusetts). The instruction included computer simulations that were intended to provide students with sufficient data to refute expectations based on the representativeness heuristic, as well as other misconceptions about chance. Student performance suggests that a belief in representativeness may not be as widespread as thought, and that curriculum development aimed at countering this belief should proceed cautiously. In addition, student who apparently do not have a well-developed understanding of independence in random sampling may nevertheless answer such problems correctly based on reasoning that is fundamentally non-probabilistic. Thus, many items currently being used to assess conceptual development may be insensitive to certain misconceptions about probability. Student misconceptions about probability need to be better understood if more appropirate mathematics instruction is to be achieved. (KR)
  • Author(s):
    Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D.
    Editors:
    Kahneman, D., Slovic, P., & Tversky, A.
    Year:
    1982
    Abstract:
    Apparently, most psychologists have an exaggerated belief in the likelihood of successfully replicating an obtained finding. The sources of such beliefs, and their consequences for the conduct of scientific inquiry, are what this paper is about. Our thesis is that people have strong intuitions about random sampling; that these intuitions are wrong in fundamental respects; that these intuitions are shared by naive subjects and by trained scientists; and that they are applied with unfortunate consequences in the course of scientific inquiry.
  • Author(s):
    Smith, G. F., Benson, P. G., & Curley, S. P.
    Year:
    1991
    Abstract:
    This paper presents a cognitive analysis of subjective probability judgments and proposes that these are assessments of belief-processing activities. The analysis is motivated by an investigation of the concepts of belief, knowledge, and uncertainty.
  • Author(s):
    Truran, K.
    Editors:
    Biddulph, F. & Carr, K.
    Year:
    1997
    Abstract:
    This paper explores some observed confusions held by pre-service teachers about concepts of probability and statistics. The writer uses information about confusion and misconceptions held by pre-service teachers gained by examination of teaching assignments written by her tertiary students. It considers some other research in this field and makes some suggestions about what steps may be taken to provide pre-service teachers with a better understanding of stochastics.
  • Author(s):
    Pollatsek, A., Konold, C. E., Well, A. D., & Lima, S. D.
    Year:
    1984
    Abstract:
    In Experiment 1, subjects estimated a) the mean of a random sample of ten scores consisting of nine unknown scores and a known score that was divergent from the population mean; and b) the mean of the nine unknown scores. The modal answer (about 40% of the responses) for both sample means was the population mean. The results extend the work of Tversky and Kahneman by demonstrating that subjects hold a passive, descriptive view of random sampling rather than an active balancing model. This result was explored further in in-depth interviews, wherein subjects solved the problem while explaining their reasoning. The interview data replicated Experiment 1 and further showed (a) that subjects' solutions were fairly stable-- when presented with alternative solutions including the correct one, few subjects changed their answer; (b) little evidence of a balancing mechanism; and (c) that acceptance of both means as 400 is largely a result of the perceived unpredictability of "random samples."
    Location:
  • Author(s):
    Schaffner, A., Graf, E. A., Hunt, E.,Madigan, D., Minstrell, J., & Nason, M.
    Year:
    1996
    Abstract:
    Many authors have argued the benefits of collaborative learning (diSessa and Minstrel, 1995; Cohen, 1994; Reynolds, 1995; Bruer, 1993; von Glaserfield, 1991) and activity based courses (Jones, 1991; Yackel, Cobb and Wood, 1991). However, few have presented tools or methods for applying these ideas in large undergraduate service courses. In the context of undergraduate statistics education, we introduce ``Virtual Benchmark Instruction'' a method to facilitate collaborative learning using HyperNews, a structured hypertext bulletin board on the World Wide Web. We draw extensively on previous work by Minstrell, diSessa, and others, who developed and evaluated ``Benchmark Instruction'' in the context of the high school physics classroom. We adapt their ideas and add a virtual environment, generalizing the technique to larger audiences.
  • Author(s):
    Pea, R.
    Editors:
    Schoenfeld, A. H.
    Year:
    1987
    Abstract:
    This paper considers the possibilities of using computers not only to amplify, but to reorganize children's thinking and mental functioning. These two different conceptualizations of the transformational role of noncomputer cognitive technologies (such as written language) in human intelligence and cognitive change are sketched, and the different implications to be drawn from these conceptualizations are considered in relation to human thinking and the educational processes. Several examples of software as cognitive technologies are analyzed, and the advantages of the reorganizer approach are detailed. It is argued that since the cognitive technologies we invent can serve as instruments of cultural redefinition (shaping who we are by what we do), the selecting of values for educational goals becomes important. Finally, it is suggested that the urgency of updating educational aims and methods recommends an activist research paradigm for simultaneously creating and studying changes in the processes and outcomes of human learning with new cognitive and educational technologies.

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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