Research: Analysing statistics anxiety in social science students

Research summary

• September 2020 – August 2025

Manchester Met’s Q-Step centre is conducting international research into students’ attitudes to statistics.

It contributes to the centre’s ongoing efforts to improve the teaching and learning of statistics through research, including by better understanding students’ statistics anxiety.

The centre is also engaged in methodological research to assess the robustness and validity of measures for statistics anxiety with colleagues from the UK, Denmark, the Netherlands and Austria.

Q-Step centres – run at 17 UK universities – aim to give students the skills and confidence to use evidence and data effectively.

Members of Manchester Met’s Q-Step centre supervise international PhD researchers and teach on undergraduate and postgraduate courses. The centre offers online and in person courses to equip students with highly regarded quantitative skills fit for many modern sectors.

In this research, social science students from Russell Group and post-1992 universities are taking part in surveys, interviews and focus groups. Their attitudes to statistics will be compared with those of their peers in the UK and across Europe.

The project will help Manchester Met’s Q-Step centre evaluate its own approach to statistical research, teaching and placements to ensure social science students get the best support.

Q-Step is seen as a way to address skills gaps by opening up job opportunities in science, technology, engineering and maths.

It also aims to improve general numeracy skills so students can make better financial decisions and reduce their risk of debt.

Research outputs

Papers, reports and other publications generated by this research will be published on or linked to from this page when they are available.