Research

PhD Projects (Empirical)

The Many Anxieties Project: A Multi-Site, Multi-Study Investigation of the Convergent & Discriminant Validity of Statistics and Maths Anxieties

Terry, J., Field, A. P., et al. (In Progress)

Recent research indicated that statistics anxiety and maths anxiety are unlikely to be separate constructs (Terry & Field, 2021). This project will examine whether these findings conceptually replicate in a large, international sample and whether the construct underlying statistics anxiety and maths anxiety is itself unique or whether it can be attributed to a more general anxiety construct.

Approximately 100,000 undergraduate students in ~150 universities in ~45 countries that have taken or are taking statistics as part of an otherwise non-maths based degree will be invited to take part in an online self-report questionnaire study. The survey contains measures of statistics anxiety, maths anxiety, and a series of other constructs that may be underlying or are theoretically related to statistics and maths anxieties. We will also be collecting maths and statistics achievement data and information about the students’ statistics courses. A series of psychometric analyses will be conducted to examine our core research questions.

A secondary aim of this project is the curation of a large open dataset to facilitate study into other related research questions.

Statistics Anxiety and Maths Anxiety: Evidence of Jangle Fallacy

Terry, J. & Field, A. P. (Manuscript in Preparation)

Maths anxiety and statistics anxiety are currently treated as separate constructs in the research literature, yet few studies have examined their distinctiveness. This study tested the distinctiveness of the two constructs using exploratory factor analysis, latent profile analysis, and a between-subjects experimental procedure in a sample of 465 psychology undergraduates. Results indicated that the two constructs mostly likely share an underlying construct and this could not be attributed to the differences in the measurement scales themselves.

OSF | GitHub | Poster

PhD Projects (Reviews)

Best Practice for Research Methods in Statistics Education

Terry, J. & Field, A. P. (Manuscript in Preparation)

A Review of the Theoretical Approaches to Understanding the Relationship between Statistics Anxiety and Statistics Course Achievement

Terry, J. & Field, A. P. (Manuscript in Preparation)

Non-PhD Projects

PhD Psychology Students’ Perceptions, Understandings, and Experiences of Open Science

with researchers at the University of Stirling (UK), University of Leeds (UK), University of Sussex (UK), and Birmingham City University (UK)

Challenge and Threat Appraisals as Moderators of Statistics Anxiety

with researchers at the University of Leeds (UK), University of Stirling (UK), and Birmingham City University (UK)