Michael DeCesare

Statistics Anxiety among Sociology Majors: A First Diagnosis and Some Treatment Options.

Teaching Sociology, Vol. 35, 2007 (October:360-367) 360 HELPING STUDENTS OVERCOME their “statistics anxiety” has become an important and explicit objective of social statistics courses. This relatively new trend is reflected most clearly in recently published statistics textbooks and in Teaching Sociology articles. Regarding the former, in the past few years we have witnessed the publication of texts called Statistics for the Terrified (Kranzler and Moursund 1999), Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics (Salkind 2000), and Statistics Without Tears (Rowntree 2004). And during the 20 years since Blalock (1987) first insisted that reducing students’ statistics anxiety should be an explicit course goal, a number of articles have appeared in Teaching Sociology that have described techniques for doing so (e.g., Auster 2000; Paxton 2006; Potter 1995; Schacht 1990; Schacht and Stewart 1990, 1992; Schumm et al. 2002). Bessant’s (1992:143) description of students’ anxiety as “one of the most significant barriers that instructors encounter while teaching statistics” nicely summarizes sociologists’ recent perspective on the issue. Many sociologists now seem to assume that most, if not all, sociology students enter statistics courses full of anxiety. The problem is that this assumption is based solely on anecdotal and informal evidence. The present study seeks to correct this problem. I begin by examining the nature and quality of the evidence that sociologists have offered for the existence of statistics anxiety. I go on to offer the first empirical assessment of the extent of sociology majors’ anxiety. My results show that sociologists’ assumption that an overwhelming majority of students are anxious is not quite accurate. They also demonstrate that females and students who expect lower course grades are significantly more likely to report feeling anxious on the first day of class. In conclusion, I outline a research agenda for studying both the extent and causes of statistics anxiety, and possible treatment options for it. I also discuss three potential negative consequences for students of continuing to assume high levels of statistics anxiety among sociology majors.

The Lesson to Be Learned: The Past Troubles and Future Promise of Teaching High School Sociology

High school sociology has historically been and largely continues to be neglected by the disciplines professional organizations and by academic sociologists. The few past reforms of high school sociology-such as the SRSS project during the 1960s and early 1970s-were aimed at course content and instructional materials; they have failed. I argue that a new approach is necessary, one that focuses on improving high school sociology teacher training. Professional associations and academic departments must both contribute to efforts to improve the formal sociological education and professionalization of high school teachers of the discipline. Improving teacher training is the best way to enhance the quality of secondary sociology courses, and may also help rectify the disciplines distorted public image as high school students gain a more accurate appreciation and understanding of fundamental sociological insights from their better trained teachers

The High School Sociology Teacher

High school teachers of sociology have long been neglected by academic sociologists and the ASA. Recent developments are encouraging, however. In 2001, the ASA appointed a Task Force on the Advanced Placement Course for Sociology in High School, and Teaching Sociology has published three articles on high school sociology since that year. Still, there is a dire need for research on the characteristics and experiences of teachers themselves, and for empirically-based recommendations for assisting them. The current study uses questionnaire data to examine the personal and professional characteristics of the teachers who offered a sociology course in Connecticut public high schools during academic year 2000-01. The results indicate that teachers have little formal education in sociology, are not involved in the professional activities of the discipline, and have virtually no exposure to sociology outside of their own courses. The paper concludes with recommendations for future research and action.

95 Years of Teaching High School Sociology

A neglected part of the history of teaching sociology is the history of teaching high school sociology. The American Sociological Associations centennial in 2005 affords sociologists an opportunity to reflect on the teaching of sociology–anywhere and everywhere that it happens. In the spirit of contributing to the history of teaching sociology in the United States, this paper outlines the roughly 95-year history of the teaching of high school sociology. I rely upon published course descriptions written by high school sociology teachers and empirical studies conducted by academic sociologists. They demonstrate that past high school sociology courses have focused primarily on examining social problems and current events, and on promoting citizenship education. This remains the case today. I offer several reasons why the courses have looked as they have over the past 95 years, and conclude with four predictions about the future of teaching high school sociology.

The Global Right Wing and the Clash of World PoliticsThe Global Right Wing and the Clash of World Politics, by BobClifford. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012. 225 pp.

much of the analysis. Although Birindelli presents statistics documenting structural problems, there appears to be little sympathy for parents who are attempting to cope. It would have been interesting to assess the parents’ subjective understanding of their own and their children’s circumstances. Birindelli refers to a ‘‘fear of solitude’’ (p. 133) as motivating their extended support of their children. One wonders, however, whether this support helps their children to eventually receive university degrees, resulting in improvement in their job prospects and earning power. What happens when these children reach their mid-to-late thirties? Is what he describes a delay in the transition to adulthood, or a long-term adaptation extending to ‘‘middle age’’? Birindelli finds strong contrasts between the outlooks of Italian versus Northern European and American youth, who are perceived to be more optimistic and futureoriented, actively seeking opportunities for work and willing to withstand some privation to become economically independent. Interestingly, he comments that Italian and American university students who live most of the year in their college towns, but return home during summers and holidays, perceive their circumstances differently. When asked whether they live ‘‘on your own’’ or ‘‘with your parents,’’ American students say they live with their parents, while Italians think they are living on their own. Birindelli interprets this difference as illustrating the stronger American emphasis on autonomy; to be on your own means you are 100 percent independent. Italian youth, in contrast, have a much lower bar: just living away from home is enough. Such snippets of insight reward the reader who is sufficiently motivated to wade through frequent repetition and often stilted prose. While this monograph is much stronger in critical commentary than in empirical grounding, it may be of interest to specialists on the transition to adulthood, especially those with a comparative cross-cultural perspective. The Global Right Wing and the Clash of World Politics, by Clifford Bob. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012. 225 pp.

29.99 paper. ISBN: 9780521145442.

29.99 paper. ISBN: 9780521145442.

Battling Pornography: The American Feminist Anti-Pornography Movement, 1976-1986

an authoritative source – and this is certainly one of the best among them – but also to those interested in Colombian history in general, or to those interested in studying insurgent movements beyond the common places prevalent in ‘terrorism’ studies. This concise and accessible book brings back armed rebellion decisively to the field of contentious politics and straight back to the dynamics of class struggle and polarisation in Colombian society.

Hollywood Goes to High School: Cinema, Schools, and American CultureHollywood Goes to High School: Cinema, Schools, and American Culture, by BulmanRobert C.. New York, NY: Worth Publishers, 2006. 191 pp.

and border patrolling [my term] as important contexts to the “doing of race” in this high school as she explores the racial projects called upon and created by the kids in their everyday experiences. The title of the book, Learning Difference, does not quite speak to the analysis Staiger provides (or the work the students are doing). In fact, upon reading the book, it becomes clear that the students are doing and teaching difference as they patrol the borders and create alliances, as much as they are learning. At a minimum, Staiger shows, they are very active learners. Staiger writes: “Racial meanings and structures intersect and evolve through the interplay between institutions, individuals, and groups, who are at once influenced by and influence and shape racial structures and meanings” (p. 19). Staiger’s strength lies in her keen insights into the daily production of race. She aptly identifies the myriad influences on the racial dynamics. Boundary maintenance is one of the more interesting pieces of the analysis. The students use the tools creatively, defining boundaries between racial groups, showing clearly the way these students are more than learning about race—they are teaching, creating, and patrolling racial ideologies and actions. Some boundaries are set for them: tracking, housing, gangs, and immigrant histories. However, Staiger shows the unending creativity of students to work these boundaries. Another wonderful piece of the story is the way white students seem to take their privilege for granted. Staiger does not spend time analyzing why the white students are overrepresented in the “GROW” track, but, with that as a starting point, she is able to show the way students of color, denied access to upper tracks, are compelled to negotiate racial meanings in almost every nuance of their lives, while many of the white students are blind to the inequalities, the problems caused by the racial order. In a few instances, white students did recognize race, but as the old telling goes, not racism. This piece more than any other shows that while white is a race, in terms of the racial order, whites are permitted to ignore race as they are protected and well-situated to move onto college and place their energies into preparing to become the next generation of those with institutional power. One piece of the research and analysis could have been shifted to explore a needed area: young women and the construction of race. Staiger shows the role of gangs in the intersecting production of masculinity and race. In the analysis, gangs are nearly reified and thus become the explanatory tool for why the analysis is largely played out through the world of males. My dispute is not with the strength of gangs or the production of race and masculinity—her analysis is right on. I would have liked to understand how race is being produced at the intersection of race and gender through the lens of women/girls—this is the much less analyzed piece of racial production and given the strength of Staiger’s research and insights, a piece she could likely tell—and tell well. Instead, I left this book wondering about the salience of race in the young women’s lives. Overall, this book is well-researched and written in a clear, concise, and accessible manner. I recommend this book for undergraduate and graduate level courses in sociology, race studies, and of course, education.