In many social science majors (e.g., psychology, education, sociology), students tend to report having higher levels of statistics anxiety as opposed to other majors. Social science majors are often chosen by students who recognize that their strengths aren’t in math, and may have had difficulties in math in the past. Statistic tasks in social sciences are more closely related to verbal reasoning, and are often embedded into applied contexts. There’s less of simply solving problems just to be able solve them, and more practicality behind understanding statistics, literature, and the given scenario.

Differences in Social Sciences’ 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? 

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

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. 


Predicting Achievement in Math and Statistics 

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.

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