Examining the role of context in statistical literacy outcomes using an isomorphic assessment instrument

TL;DR

This study develops and tests an isomorphic assessment instrument to measure how context influences statistical literacy, revealing that contextualized questions lower scores and highlighting the importance of context in assessment design.

Contribution

The paper introduces a new isomorphic assessment tool for contextualized statistical literacy and demonstrates its psychometric validity and impact on scores.

Findings

Isomorphic assessment has comparable psychometric properties to existing tools.

Test takers score lower on context-rich statistical literacy questions.

Contextual relevance affects statistical literacy performance.

Abstract

The central role of statistical literacy has been discussed extensively, emphasizing its importance as a learning outcome and in promoting a citizenry capable of interacting with the world in an informed and critical manner. Our work contributes to the growing literature on assessing and improving people's statistical literacy vis-a-vis contexts important in their professional and personal lives. We consider the measurement of contextualized statistics literacy - statistical literacy as applied to relevant contexts. We discuss the development of an isomorphic instrument modifying an existing assessment, design of a pilot study, and results which conclude that 1) the isomorphic assessment has comparable psychometric properties, and 2) test takers have lower statistical literacy scores on an assessment that incorporates relevant contexts.