Research Topic
Statistics anxiety is a common issue to most of the graduate student ( Kimiyu, 2018). The study looks into the relationship when it comes to the intolerance of uncertainty, statistics anxiety, and worry. The researcher states in the purpose of the study that intolerance of uncertainty results to worry yet worry is the primary characteristic of anxiety. Then, intolerance of uncertainty and worry are relative just as it is to statistics anxiety. The argument as mentioned above leads the author to these hypotheses;
1. Intolerance of uncertainty is significantly correlated with worry in statistics students at pretest.
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2. Worry is significantly correlated with six types of statistics anxiety at pretest.
3. Student levels of intolerance of uncertainty, worry, and statistics anxiety will be significantly reduced from pretest to posttest.
Research Methodology
The participants of the study came from southwestern university particularly, the college of education. All the students were taking the introductory statistics at the graduate level, and they consent to be part of the study. There were a total of 97 students where most of them happened to be females at 66%. 64.9% were of a Caucasian race, and 53.6% were master’s students. (0.7% of the students were close to finishing their degree programs with nearly 61% having 33 hours left for closure. Most of the students were from the field of sports psychology, educational psychology, hospitality administration counseling, family/consumer science, nutritional science, and Mass Communication.
The researcher used PSWQ, IUS-12, and STARS instruments in collecting the data, which are The Penn State Worry Questionnaire, Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale-12, and Statistics Anxiety Rating Scale respectively. An assessment of Intolerance of uncertainty put IUS-12 to use as PSWQ evaluated students trends of worry and Statistics Anxiety Rating Scale measured statistics analysis. Students did protest and pretest during their fall or the spring semester when the introductory statistics cause is on offer.
Major Conclusions
The author argues that given that intolerance of uncertainty has some relation to worry, and worry is the primary element of anxiety, then worry must be a factor in statistic anxiety. The six dimensions of statistics have three of them suggesting that it has a relation with worry when it comes to moderate effect sizes. The anticipations were fear of asking for help dimension of the worth of statistics and fear of statistics teacher. The researcher further states the Worth of statistics is an attitude construct than it is direct anxiety- explaining the lack of relation when it comes to the construct and worry. Fear of statistics and fear of asking for help are social matters given they need interaction with an individual and maybe tap into social apprehension construct instead of an anxiety construct. Regardless the accrued data gives a provision that worry has a relation to statistics anxiety.
Critique
Purpose of the Study
The author clearly states the purpose of the paper was indicating that that intolerance of uncertainty results to worry yet worry is the primary characteristic of anxiety.it is easy to notice what the research intends to study given the hypothesis. The author seeks to understand if Intolerance of uncertainty related with worry when it came to statistic students at the pretest; whether concern relates to six dimensions of anxiety at the pretest; whether the levels of students worry, intolerance of uncertainty anxiety diminish from pretest and posttest.
Literature Review
Also known as previous studies, the literature review shows the insights of other studies in the research on-progress. The author arranges the section logically. The research starts with the studies on statistic anxiety and details their research work in depth. Secondly, the author talks about anxiety and depth stating what different authors have to say about the two. Lastly the author looks into studies relating statistics intolerance of uncertainty, worry, and anxiety. The research also uses recent sources, which are not beyond five years from the date of publication.
Objectives
The researcher clear states the objective of the study. As mentioned earlier The author seeks to understand if Intolerance of uncertainty related with worry when it came to statistic students at the pretest; whether concern relates to six dimensions of anxiety at the pretest; whether the levels of students worry, intolerance of uncertainty, and anxiety diminish from pretest and posttest. All the objectives relate to the literature review.
Ethical Standards Applied
The participants in the study who were college students were volunteers- this means that they consented to the practice. The anonymity of the students was a priority during the investigation. They were issued with envelopes for the pretest, which they later sealed and wrote their last four digits of their cell numbers. There is little harm that can come from pretest and posttest as well.
Operational Definitions
The characterization of terms was well executed. Anxiety, worry and intolerance of uncertainty were given meaning. Moreover, the concepts behind every element were well explained.
Methodology
The research design had the participants and the instruments identified, and the procedure described. PSWQ, IUS-12, and STARS instruments were useful in measuring worry, Intolerance of uncertainty, and statistics anxiety respectively. The instruments were ideal in the process and the number of items in each differed but they use 5-point Likert scale to measure the level of different elements. The results were reliable and valid; however a pilot study was never taken.
Data Analysis/Results
Descriptive statistics were calculated for the research variables. Means and standard deviations for intolerance of uncertainty worry, and the six dimensions of statistics anxiety there is a calculation of the research variable with the use of descriptive statistics. Means and standard deviations for worry, intolerance of uncertainty and the dimensions of statistics anxiety, which are six were identified. Ninety-seven students participated in the study and details of the factors well examined.
Discussion
The researcher links the goal of the study to the literature review. Additionally, the hypothesis is supported stating that intolerance of uncertainty has some relation to worry, and worry is the primary element of anxiety; then worry must be a factor in statistic anxiety. Strengths and limitations were not well spelled out in this study. Moreover, the recommendations were not made.
References
American Psychiatric Association style of writing was useful to the report. The research used both books and journals, which were up to date. Moreover, the sources were cited in the texts correctly, appeared in the reference page with the right indentation.
Conclusion
The study process was professionally done, with clear objectives which were achieved. However, the paper lacks recommendations and strengths and limitations of the study, which are integral parts of any investigation
References
Kimiyu, P. (2018). Interventions used to reduce college statistics anxiety: Critical review of literature. GRIN Publishing.
O'Leary, Z. (2018). Research Proposal: Little Quick Fix . SAGE.
Williams, A. S. (2013). Worry, Intolerance of Uncertainty, and Statistics Anxiety. Statistics education research journal , 12 (1).