The Relationship between Preservice Teachers’ Attitudes towards Statistics and Their Research Anxiety

Öz

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between preservice teachers’ attitudes towards statistics and their research anxiety. The population of the study consisted of the students of a public university in Turkey who were studying at the Guidance and Psychological Counseling, and the Preschool Education programs. From this population, 257 participants were sampled for this research based on scale sampling method. In order to determine the attitudes and the anxiety of the participants towards statistics and research, two separate scales were to the participants. The scale of attitudes towards statistics consisted of 33 items, which assessed five subscales. The scale of research anxiety consisted of 12 items measuring a single factor. The data were analyzed through independent samples t-test and correlation analyses. The study results suggested that the female preservice teachers had more positive attitudes towards statistics than the male preservice teachers. On the other hand, the male preservice teachers’ research anxiety levels were lower than the female preservice teachers. Moreover, the attitudes and the anxiety levels showed significant differences based on the departments of the preservice teachers in favor of the Guidance and Psychological Counseling department. Finally, a positive correlation found between the research anxiety and the attitudes towards statistics levels of the participants.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Attitudes towards statistics
• Research anxiety
• Attitude
• Preservice teacher

The Relationship between Preservice Teachers’ Attitudes towards Statistics and Their Research Anxiety

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between preservice teachers’ attitudes towards statistics and their research anxiety. The population of the study consisted of the students of a public university in Turkey who were studying at the Guidance and Psychological Counseling, and the Preschool Education programs. From this population, 257 participants were sampled for this research based on scale sampling method. In order to determine the attitudes and the anxiety of the participants towards statistics and research, two separate scales were to the participants. The scale of attitudes towards statistics consisted of 33 items, which assessed five subscales. The scale of research anxiety consisted of 12 items measuring a single factor. The data were analyzed through independent samples t-test and correlation analyses. The study results suggested that the female preservice teachers had more positive attitudes towards statistics than the male preservice teachers. On the other hand, the male preservice teachers’ research anxiety levels were lower than the female preservice teachers. Moreover, the attitudes and the anxiety levels showed significant differences based on the departments of the preservice teachers in favor of the Guidance and Psychological Counseling department. Finally, a positive correlation found between the research anxiety and the attitudes towards statistics levels of the participants.

Keywords

• Attitudes towards statistics
• research anxiety
• attitude
• preservice teacher

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