Topic 7

Statistical literacy in the wider society

Convenors

• Álvaro Chirino Gutierrez (Bolivia)
• Adriana D’Amelio (Argentina)
• Sibel Kazak (Turkey)
• Maria Nascimento (Portugal)

Abstract

H.G. Wells said “The day will come when statistical thinking will be as necessary a condition for efficient coexistence as the ability to read and write.” The International Association for Statistical Education (IASE) promotes this desire through the International Project on Statistical Literacy (ISLP) whose main objective is “to contribute to promoting statistical literacy throughout the world, among young people and adults, in all areas of life”, and other slogans along the same lines, such as “data culture” and “evidence-based decision making”, which are among the best known. Promoting these principles involves understanding, measuring and disseminating the different processes that make up statistical literacy, from the work in the ministries of education to the reform or adaptation of primary and secondary curricula, the training processes for teachers, inclusion of statistics in university programs with a holistic approach, national statistical awareness campaigns of national statistical offices, efforts of private institutions, civil society initiatives among others. Additionally, in many countries the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated virtuality, introducing a strong technological component in many areas. Thus, it is important to understand this effect on developing statistical literacy and its practices.

Sessions in Topic 7 will explore these literacy processes, their mechanisms, their actors, their methodologies, and their impacts. Contributions for this topic could be linked to helping us understand how society in general experiences statistical literacy.