Twenty-first International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities

Abstract

The qualitative/conceptual reasoning used in the humanities is being pushed aside by the quantitative/observable reasoning used in the social sciences. Statistical comparisons seem as immutable as basic arithmetic, but social statistics are numbers in context. Most social statistics are subject to context in the same way that ideas involving the human condition are. For example, the UK National Health Service found that among COVID cases, the vaccinated were more likely to die than the unvaccinated. But after taking into account age, the comparison reversed: the unvaccinated were more likely to die. Statistical literacy teaches students to focus on what was – and was not – taken into account. Statistical Literacy is critical thinking about everyday statistics as evidence in arguments: how statistics are constructed and manipulated. Students are taught how to think hypothetically about how things may have been defined, counted, measured, compared and presented. Statistical literacy doesn’t require computer software; it uses ordinary English to distinguish association from causation and to describe and compare conditional probabilities. Instead of algebra, it uses basic arithmetic and weighted averages. It has less than a 30% overlap with traditional introductory statistics. Half of those taking statistical literacy said it did more to develop their critical thinking than any other course they had taken. This paper summarizes the highlights of Statistical Literacy (Math1300) as a mathematics course satisfying a general education requirement at the University of New Mexico. Educators in the humanities are encouraged to promote the adoption of statistical literacy for their students.