title: Mathematical background and attitudes toward statistics in a sample of Spanish college students.
abstract: To examine the relation of mathematical background and initial attitudes toward statistics of Spanish college students in social sciences the Survey of Attitudes Toward Statistics was given to 827 students. Multivariate analyses tested the effects of two indicators of mathematical background (amount of exposure and achievement in previous courses) on the four subscales. Analysis suggested grades in previous courses are more related to initial attitudes toward statistics than the number of mathematics courses taken. Mathematical background was related with students' affective responses to statistics but not with their valuing of statistics. Implications of possible research are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Huelva, Avda. Fuerzas Armadas, s/n, 21007 Huelva, Spain. carmona@uhu.es
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Carmona
authors.forename: Rafael J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Martínez
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sánchez
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D003479:Curriculum; D004522:Educational Status; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008433:Mathematics; D012942:Social Sciences / Q000193:education; D013030:Spain; D013223:Statistics as Topic / Q000193:education*; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*