STATISTICAL LITERACY:

This is the text being used as the Statistical Literacy textbook for Math1300 at the University of New Mexico. This text was developed as a key part of the W. M. Keck Statistical Literacy Project.

In 2005, Capella University began offering Statistical Literacy on-line using this textbook. Dr. Valerie Perkins, Dean of Capella's School of Under-graduate Studies, notes, “Schield's approach to statistical literacy helps Capella students think critically while satisfying Capella's general education requirement in mathematical and logical reasoning.”

Peter Holmes, Royal Statistical Society Centre for Statistical Education, said, “I am convinced that the standard first course in statistics, which focuses on getting to significance testing and confidence intervals, isn't an appropriate aim for a lot of students. I think Milo's approach to statistical literacy is much closer to what is needed by journalists, by policymakers, by those in business commerce or management and by most people in everyday life.”

Statistical Literacy is closely related to numeracy, quantitative literacy/reasoning and statistical thinking/reasoning. They all focus on concepts or techniques involving numbers in context—typically numbers presented in the daily news.

But there are differences. Quantitative literacy/reasoning typically focuses on math topics such as rates and rates of change, percent of, graphs of change (first and second derivatives), linear and exponential rates of growth, accumulation (integral), installment loans, savings and weighted averages, indexes and condensed measures, estimation, plane geometry, graphical production and representation and probability (single and conditional). Statistical thinking/reasoning typically focuses on statistics involving distributions and variation—specifically random variation such as that encountered in random selection or random assignment. Both quantitative reasoning and statistical thinking focus primarily on math problems, math techniques and math concepts.

Statistical Literacy is quite different. Statistical Literacy studies statistics used as evidence in everyday arguments. As such this text may be closer to critical thinking or rhetoric than to mathematics or statistics. This text uses the admonition, “Take CARE!” as a reminder that statistics are human constructs. Statistical literacy studies those factors that influence the size and direction of a statistic. Each of the four letters in CARE stand for a kind of influence on the size of a statistic: Context (comparisons, ratios, study design and confounding), Assembly (how statistics are defined and presented), Randomness (chance, margin of error and statistical significance) and Error or bias. The bulk of the book is spent on the first two types of influence.

The goal of the text is to help readers evaluate the strengths and weaknesses in statistics that are used as evidence in everyday arguments. These statistics include government-generated statistics: country-wide statistics (c.f., US Statistical Abstract), education statistics (c.f., National Assessment of Educational Progress) and health statistics (c.f., Center for Disease Control).

This text is quite different. Instead of algebra, it uses ordinary English to describe and compare counts, measures and conditional probabilities. It focuses on reading and interpreting statistics presented in tables and graphs. It presents a new graphical technique to show how a factor is “taken in account” or “controlled for.” It requires “hypothetical thinking” for students to imagine how things might have been defined, measured, compared or presented differently. It requires hypothetical thinking for students to imagine plausible confounders for observed associations.

2016: Augsburg Student Evaluations of STAT 102 by Milo Schield ASA/JSM  Course Comparison: STAT 102 vs STAT 101

Schield's Statistical Literacy 2021B (Eighth Edition)

• Major changes in the 2021 versions compared to the earlier 2011 versions.
• Fifth edition is almost the same as fourth edition with error corrections and better handling of longitudinal studies.
• Outcomes using Take CARE methodology (34 KB)
• Detailed Tables of Contents for all Chapters: (120 KB)

CONTENTS  For chapter overview, download both audio and 6up overview. Play audio while watching the overview.

• Introduction (250 KB)  Ch0-Overview6up
• Chapter 1: Story behind the Statistics  Ch1-Overview6up  Ch1Audio  Ch1-Handout-1up
• Chapter 2: Take CARE  Ch2-Overview6up  Ch2Audio  Ch2-Handout-1up
• Chapter 3: Understanding Measurements  Ch3-Overview6up  Ch3Audio  Ch3-Handout-1up
• Chapter 4: Describing Ratios using Percent and Percentage grammar  Ch4-Overview6up  Ch4Audio  Ch4-Handout-1up
• Chapter 5: Describing Ratios using Rate and Chance grammar plus tables and graphs.
• Chapter 6: Comparing Ratios  Ch5-Overview6up  Ch5Audio  Ch5-Overview1up
• Chapter 7: Understanding Ratios  Ch6-Overview6up  Ch6Audio  Ch6-Overview1up  Medical Tests
• Chapter 7: Chance and Confidence  Ch7-Overview6up  Ch7Audio-18min-2.3MB  Review-Worksheet
• Appendix: Additional Tables
• Tables of Figures, Tables and Stories
• Equations, Glossary and Index (227 KB)  Glossary Ch 1 and 2  Ratio Describe and Compare Sheet  Glossary All  Ch 1

Statistical Literacy Textbooks (2003-2200):
Internal Statistics

BOOK BACKGROUND:

• This book was based on research findings of the W. M. Keck Statistical Literacy Project.
• For an overview, see Isaacson's Statistical Literacy — Online at Capella University
• For an overview of the conceptual design, see Schield's Statistical Literacy and Liberal Education at Augsburg College.
• For a briefing on the “Take CARE” methodology, see “Take CARE”
• For a review of the technical aspects, see Schield's Statistical Literacy Curriculum Design.
• For a review of difficulties in reading tables and graphs, see Schield's Statistical Literacy Survey: Reading Tables and Graphs.
• For papers on teaching confounding using the new graphical technique, see:
  • Presenting Confounding Graphically Using Standardization, 2006 Stats magazine
  • Confound Those Speculative Statistics 2009 ASA
• For papers on teaching the social construction of statistics, see:
  • Teaching the Social Construction of Statistics   2007 Midwest Sociological Society
  • The Social Construction of Rankings 2010 ASA

Order Status:

• The first editions are limited distribution editions used primarily for teaching while developing the associated assignments and quizzes.
• The 5th edition (2011) and later are updated to go with the more than 1,000 Moodle exercises that are available to teachers that use this book.

Statistical Literacy at Augsburg College: GST 200

• Wrestling with Statistics. 2016 Rashad Kennedy  Student comments on Statistical Literacy applied to wrestling.
• Ad: Statistical Literacy Course Online at Augsburg College. Milo Schield, Instructor Syllabus: 2010, 2015, 2016
• GST 200 is approved by Augsburg College: both a little Q (QL foundations) AND a big-Q (QL applications) course (6/2008)
• 2008StatLit2A Brochure: Course Overview. 2008
• Brochure that highlights the critical thinking aspects of the course including the focus on hypothetical thinking. 2007
• Application for a “Big Q” qualification at Augsburg College. 2007
• Statistical Literacy: Purpose and Definition. Tom Burnham May 2003.

Over a Hundred Topics (Over a Thousand Problems):

As Lynn Steen noted, “concept” QL courses tend to be light on exercises. Over 130 homework topics involving right-wrong exercises have been identified for this book. More than a hundred of these topics have been implemented in Moodle as multiple choice quizzes with over a thousand problems. Having right-wrong exercises online gives students immediate feedback, eliminates the need for instructor grading, minimizes the class time needed to review these topics, and allows the instructor to see which kinds of exercises are giving the students the most difficulty. Here is a current list of the class-room tested, Moodle-based, right-wrong exercises.

Web-based Part-Whole Drill Programs:

• Videos describing: (1) the part-whole reading program,  (2) the part-whole writing program.
• The part-whole reading drill program has 186 problems. 131 descriptions, 43 common-part comparisons and 12 distinct part comparisons.
• The writing drill program currently has 301 problems: 6 chance-related, 266 tables, 14 bar graphs and 15 pie charts.
• The most recent upgrade was to add chance/probability grammar to both programs.

Odysseys2Sense: a game of lively discourse

• Odysseys (a unique web forum) is used to facilitate critical thinking. See this under Statistical Literacy tools. Fall 2012 Challenges
• Student survey: Spring 2013  Fall 2013. Advice to reviewers:  References Huemer

BACK COVER:

Dr. Milo Schield is Director of the W. M. Keck Statistical Literacy Project and a professor in Business Administration at Augsburg College. He received his Ph.D. from Rice University.

In 2001, the W. M. Keck Foundation awarded Augsburg College a grant to develop statistical literacy “as an interdisciplinary curriculum in the liberal arts.” In 2004, the AACU's Peer Review magazine featured Milo's essay, Statistical Literacy and Liberal education at Augsburg College.

“A small educational movement advocating statistical literacy has emerged. Professor Milo Schield, Director of the W. M. Keck Statistical Literacy Project, at Augsburg College in Minneapolis, is the movement's leading voice.” Dr. Joel Best, author of More Damned Lies and Statistics.

Statistical Literacy Textbook (2016)

Textbook design:

• Table of Contents
• Offering STAT 102: Social Statistics for Decision Makers. Schield IASE Roundtable in Berlin
• Augsburg Student Evaluations of STAT 102: Social Statistics for Decision Makers. Schield (2016) ASA.
• Statistical Literacy Textbook: Diagrams of Key Concepts. Schield (2016)
• Statistical Literacy Textbook Proposal
• Statistical Literacy Table of Contents (V2)
• Statistical Literacy at Augsburg (2016)

As of 2020, Dr. Milo Schield is:

• Professor Emeritus of Business Administration at Augsburg College.  Augsburg Home page 1  Home page 2  Statistical Literacy at Augsburg (2016)
• Fellow of the American Statistical Association
• Elected member of the International Statistical Institute (ISI 2011)
• US Representative of the International Statistical Literacy Project (ISLP)
• Statistical Literacy Coordinator for the Mathematics-Statistics Department, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque
• Editor of StatLit.org
• Past-President of the National Numeracy Network (NNN)
• Past-President of the Twin Cities Chapter of the American Statistical Association (ASA)
• Past-Director of the W. M. Keck Statistical Literacy Project (2001-2005)

Schield papers chronologically  CV  Intros (2016, 2012)  International Talks by Location  JSM Sessions

• 2018: Schield ASA Fellow: Notification Nomination  CV  Citations 2/2018  Letters: Bailer, Kaplan, Weisberg, Wild & Witmer
• 2017: Schield Citations 11/2017  Classify Statements: Survey  Schield Claims  KEY490F Student Survey Results
• 2016: SERJ  2016 Augsburg News  Research Gate Citations 3/2016  Research-Gate Summary 6/2016
• 2015: Wiley Textbook proposal: Practical Statistics for Professionals  RSS Proposal.
• 2015: NNN Candidate for Vice President  ASA Section on Statistical Education Board Member (at large) CV
• 2015: USCOTS Lifetime Achievement award.  Nomination letter  Complete packet
• 2015: Judea Pearl Causality Prize.  Nomination packet.
• 2015: USCOTS Schield AIDS video  Statisticians make life better  960x720 (3.5mb).  Text  Slides: 6up  1up

2001: W. M. Keck Statistical Literacy Grant to Augsburg College (2001–2005):
Goal: “To Develop Statistical Literacy as an Interdisciplinary Curriculum in the Liberal Arts”
Principal Investigator: Milo Schield  W. M. Keck Foundation Goals poster (2002)  Statistical Literacy Header (2001)

• Initial Proposal ($1.2M)  Revised Proposal (Jan. 2001, $500k)  Appendix
• Onsite visit (May 2001):  Expand StatEd to Include “Observational Causation” 6up;  Generate teaching materials 6up;  Expand Stat Ed to Include Statistical Literacy 6up;  Together we can make a difference 6up  Schedule (draft)
• Celebration pictures (July 2001): Knight, Dalglish, Schwain, Stoller, Reichenbach and Currey.

Other Materials:

• 2A. The W. M. Keck Statistical Literacy Course at Augsburg: An Overview
• Comments by Hulsizer and Woolf (2009) on page 63 in A Guide to Teaching Statistics: Innovations and Best Practices.
• Milo Schield (2005), Director of the W. M. Keck Statistical Literacy Project, argued that instructors have the responsibility to not only teach basic statistical competence, but to become “evangelists” for statistical literacy. He argued that we should develop introductory statistics courses that attract students because students find the material enjoyable and beneficial. To foster statistical literacy, teachers and students must discuss and argue every day, real-world examples of statistics from the media, news, and journal studies. As a results, the ultimate course evaluation should consist of measuring students' “appreciation for the value of statistics in everyday life” (p 4.)
  Schield, M (2005). Statistical Literacy: An Evangelical Calling for Statistical Educators, 2005 ISI. See StatLit.org/pdf/2005SchieldISI.pdf
• 2006 Augsburg NOW: Business Department is International

Posters:

• Schield and Kaplan (2011): Modelling in Context: Teaching Confounding and Adjustment through Common Core Standards. USCOTS
• Schield and Copes (2011): Odysseys: Teach Critical Thinking. Augsburg
• Isaacson (2011): Where do Statistics Come From?  USCOTS
• Schield and Brick (2009): Slightly Radical Ideas to Help Students Interpret Introductory Statistics. USCOTS. Also
• Schield (2006): Statistical Literacy is to Statistics as Art Appreciation is to Art. ICOTS-5.
• Schield (2001): Statistical Literacy Creed

At the Joint Statistical Meeting in Vancouver, Dr. Milo Schield was selected to be a Fellow by the American Statistical Association. This high honor is limited to 0.3% of the membership each year (roughly 60 out of 18,000). The citation reads as follows: “For leadership in, and service to, the field of statistics education; for outstanding contribution to increase statistical literacy among consumers and decision makers in the wider society; and for tireless efforts in promoting quantitative literacy internationally—the American Statistical Association (founded in 1839) awards the Honorary Rank of Fellow to Milo Schield, Augsburg University.” Signed by Paul Gallo, Committee Chair, July 31, 2018.
My overwhelming thanks to Carl Lee (right) who finally convinced me that I might be a worthy candidate. And to my supporters (below).