Statistics Anxiety and Course Performance Among UK Social Science Undergraduates, 2015-2017

The sample comprises of undergraduate social science students who were studying on introductory statistics courses at twelve UK universities (n=677). The data were collected anonymously between 2015 and 2017. The main mode of data collection was via a survey questionnaire that was completed in class during teaching. Where it was not possible to administer a physical questionnaire in a class setting there was an online version of the survey questionnaire available. Survey results were linked with final course grade via the student number. The research received ethical approval from the University of Edinburgh. The survey data collection tool was based on a previous survey by Payne, G., Hodgkinson, L., Williams, M. (2009). SN 6137. This survey tool was adapted to include a validated measure of statistics anxiety, the Statistics Anxiety Rating Scale, along with a number of other variables of interest.

This project was part of the National Centre for Research Methods 2014-19 funding phase. It was led by Professor John MacInnes, University of Edinburgh. The project collected data from social science undergraduate students studying on general introductory courses in social statistics from a dozen UK universities. This was linked to information on course performance. The survey data collection tool was based on a previous survey by Payne, G., Hodgkinson, L., Williams, M. (2009). SN 6137. This was adapted to include a validated measure of statistics anxiety, the Statistics Anxiety Rating Scale.