cover that departmental requirements for an undergraduate major typically include a research methods course that incorporates statistics, a separate course on social statistics, or both. Despite the near inevitability of a quantitative component, students too often meet it with trepidation and a negativity that may interfere with their motivation, willingness, and ability to learn. These feelings include being intimidated by statistics and anxiety about their ability to understand course materials linked to quantitative data (Blalock 1987; Bridges et al. 1998; Potter 1995; Rushing and Winfield 1999; Schacht and Stewart 1990). One author acknowledged students' feelings by entitling his book Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics (Salkind 2000) and another attempted to allay student fears with the title Social Statistics Without Tears (Johnson 1976). Faculty challenged by teaching statistics have suggested a variety of techniques designed to reduce students' apprehension and anxiety. Some suggest humor (Schacht and Stewart, 1990) and extended concrete examples (Rushing and Winfield 1999; Singleton 1989), while others recommend interactive gimmicks and class exercises (Markham 1991; Potter 1995; Schacht and Stewart 1992; Wybraniec and Wilmoth 1999) to alleviate students' anxiety, increase their confidence, and improve their comprehension of the material.
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Carol J. Auster (2000) studied this question.