Re-Validation and Exploration of Modified Versions of the Statistics Anxiety Scale Developed for College Students in the United States

Abstract

This study aimed to validate a modified Statistics Anxiety Scale for students in the United States taking university courses. Modifications were made by changing the wording of several items to be consistent with American English, and to accommodate students taking statistics courses in various formats. Items were added to investigate anxiety toward the use of statistical packages, and peer mentoring. Data from 352 participants and exploratory factor analyses were used to analyze the original 24-item SAS (SAS-O) and a version of the SAS with six additional items (SAS-M). The three-factor structure for SAS-O was consistent with the original validation study, explaining about 64 % of the items’ variance. The factor structure for SAS-M contained an additional two factors, that explained a total of 68 % of the items’ variance. The factors were internally consistent, correlated with one another, and negatively correlated with Wise’s Attitude Toward Statistics scale. Male students generally had lower application anxiety and examination anxiety than female students, and lower asking for help anxiety than non-traditional students.