Undergraduates' Statistics Anxiety: A Phenomenological Study

In this phenomenological study, students' perceptions of statistics anxiety were explored, as were the factors that they believe contribute to and reduce their statistics anxiety. The participants were undergraduates enrolled in an introductory statistics course at a Rocky Mountain region mid-sized university. Six students participated in this study. A modified version of the Mathematics Attitudes Scale was used to measure students' statistics anxiety scores. Students with higher statistics anxiety scores on the surveys were interviewed. The interview data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The results revealed that undergraduates from a non-mathematics background, having high statistics anxiety, feel challenged while in statistics class, solving statistical problem, taking tests, or speaking in front of their peers. These challenges were found to be due to their inability to process statistical language, which gave rise to feelings of inadequacy, and manifested as physiological symptoms. All these factors led students to give up or second guess answers on tests. These students thus ended up performing poorly. Finally, these undergraduates noted that having open notes and formula sheets during tests alleviated their statistics anxiety. Teachers need to know their students' challenges and address them so that students with above-average statistics anxiety levels feel included and understood. Keywords: Statistics Anxiety, Undergraduate Students, Phenomenology, Thematic Analysis, Qualitative Research, Statistics Education.Statement of the ProblemStatistics anxiety has been defined as "the feelings of anxiety encountered when taking a statistics course or doing statistical analyses; that is, gathering, processing, and interpret[ing]" (Cruise, Cash, & Bolton, 1985, p. 92). Onwuegbuzie, DaRos, and Ryan (1997) defined it as the anxiety that occurs as a result of encountering statistics in any form and at any time. Researchers have noted statistics anxiety among their students. Several researchers (Blalock, 1987; Dillon, 1982; Onwuegbuzie & Seaman, 1995) have found negative effects of statistics anxiety on students' learning and performance in statistics related courses. Furthermore, Mji (2009) noted that statistics anxiety may negatively affect acquisition of skills, knowledge, and strategies identified as necessary for students' prospective careers. Research therefore indicates that students with statistics anxiety feel challenged in taking statistics courses. This in turn adds to their pressure and perpetuates poor performance.According to Zeidner (1991), the statistics anxiety levels among students from nonmathematics background may be higher than among those students from mathematics oriented areas. Pan and Tang (2005) noted that students having limited prior statistical or mathematical training may have noticeably higher levels of statistics anxiety. Research indicates that often students with high anxiety may delay enrolling in statistics courses until the end of their academic programs and this adds to the stress of taking these courses (Onwuegbuzie, 1997). Most undergraduates in the social sciences are required to take statistics courses as part of their program of study; therefore, undergraduates' statistics anxiety needs to be addressed.Researchers have also focused on factors that reduce statistics anxiety. Dillon (1982) demonstrated that students' statistics anxiety can be decreased by encouraging them to talk about their fears, and suggested ways that they can cope with their statistics anxiety. Schacht and Stewart (1991) found that gathering data from the students themselves and having students perform simple calculations (obtaining the mean, etc.) reduces anxiety levels and increases motivation to become involved in the class. Pan and Tang (2005) found that when the instructor was sensitive to students' concerns and used effective instructional strategies, their statistics anxiety was reduced and learning was enhanced. …