Participants would describe their level of anxiety on a five-point scale going from “no anxiety” (1) to “very much anxious” (5) in given situations. 

Test and Class Anxiety Example: “Walking into the room to take a statistics test”.
Interpretation Anxiety Example: “Trying to decide which analysis is appropriate for my research project”.
Fear of Asking for Help Example: “Asking a fellow student to explain a computer printout”.


Statistic Anxiety Rating Scale Examples

A measurement of statistics anxiety used in studies. It inquires three subscales: Test and class anxiety (8 questions), interpretation anxiety (11 questions), and the fear of asking for help (4 questions). The self-report questions require participants to rate on a five-point scale how they feel in certain scenarios.

Ohio State University, Columbus

Statistics Anxiety is the apprehension that someone experiences in academic or practical scenarios, related to statistics. It’s an enduring and habitual form of anxiety. 

Statistics Anxiety 

Paechter, M., Macher, D., Martskvishvili, K., Wimmer, S., & Papousek, I. (2017, July 24). Mathematics anxiety and statistics anxiety. shared but also unshared components and antagonistic contributions to performance in statistics. Frontiers. Retrieved November 22, 2022, from https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01196/full 

Mathematics Anxiety and Statistics Anxiety. Shared but Also Unshared Components and Antagonistic Contributions to Performance in Statistics

Researchers have aimed to understand if statistics anxiety is a genuine form of anxiety that truly impairs a student’s success, or if students just shift previous math-related experiences to statistics. Essentially, do students (specifically those in social sciences) truly have statistics anxiety, or are they just assuming they’ll do poorly because there’s math present? 

Understanding the Legitimacy of Statistics Anxiety

Research has shown that a variety of variables influence performance in statistics and math. Generally, prior knowledge is a strong predictor for future achievement. This level of prior knowledge is measured through grades and assessment scores. 

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