LibGuides: Quantitative Literacy: Quantitative Literacy

Quantitative Literacy at MSU

Analytical Thinking - Liberal Learning Goals
"The MSU graduate uses ways of knowing from mathematics, natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, and arts to access information and critically analyzes complex material in order to evaluate evidence, construct reasoned arguments, and communicate inferences and conclusions."
Quantitative Literacy Taskforce Final Report
From the University Committee on Liberal Learning (2005).
Center for Statistical Training and Consulting (CSTAT)
CSTAT offers statistical workshops and consultations. They also point to additional training opportunities at MSU and off-campus.
MSU Libraries Data Services
Data Services ensures that the MSU community has access to numeric information needed to support curricular, research, and general information needs.

What is Quantitative Literacy?

There is no standard dictionary definition to quote, but put simply, quantitative literacy is the ability to understand and interpret numerical information.

There are a number of terms that are often used interchangeably (although distinct meanings may be parsed out) to discuss the concept of quantitative literacy: statistical literacy, data literacy, and numeracy.

Quantitative Literacy involves a familiarity with the research methods that are used to gather and manipulate data. This allows you to make sense of the charts, graphs, tables and statistics that appear in the news, journals, books and websites that you read and to view their validity with a critical eye.

Quantitative Literacy is not restricted to the mathematical disciplines. In fact, Library Data Services focuses on serving the social sciences here at MSU. Statistics are used to describe social problems and chart historical trends over time.

There are many library resources that contain data and statistics. Library Data Services supports the development of quantitative literacy by helping researchers identify high-quality sources of numeric information and by promoting the use of critical thinking skills to interpret data and statistics. Classroom and personal instruction on the identification and use of library resources are available by request.

Quantitative Literacy Resources for Instruction

Instructor Resources at ICPSR
"These resources were created especially for undergraduate faculty and students. While any of ICPSR's data and tools can be used in the classroom, the ones provided here make it easy for instructors to set up data-driven learning experiences. The materials can be used as the basis for assignments, as an in-class or study exercise, for lecture content, or any other way you see fit. All resources are provided under a Creative Commons (attribution) License."
Roper Center Public Opinion Archive - Education
The Roper Center provides online tutorials that explain the fundamentals of public polling and basics on how to analyze public opinion polls. Sample assignments for classroom use are included. MSU is a member of the Roper Center archives.
Social Science Data Analysis Network
"The Social Science Data Analysis Network (SSDAN) is a university-based organization that creates demographic media, such as user guides, web sites, and hands-on classroom computer materials that make U.S. census data accessible to policymakers, educators, the media, and informed citizens. SSDAN is directed by demographer William H. Frey and utilizes facilities at the Population Studies Center, University of Michigan."
StatLit.org
"The primary goal of this site is to present statistical literacy as an interdisciplinary activity...This site features books, papers and activities related to statistical literacy -- taken broadly from a variety of disciplines." The site is maintained by Milo Schield, director of the W.M. Keck Statistical Literacy Project and member of the National Numeracy Network.
Research Methods Knowledge Base
"The Research Methods Knowledge Base is a comprehensive web-based textbook that addresses all of the topics in a typical introductory undergraduate or graduate course in social research methods. It covers the entire research process including: formulating research questions; sampling (probability and nonprobability); measurement (surveys, scaling, qualitative, unobtrusive); research design (experimental and quasi-experimental); data analysis; and, writing the research paper."

Quantitative Literacy Books

A selection of books in the MSU Libraries dealing with quantitative literacy topics, themes, and skills. For additional title recommendations, the StatLit.org website provides an excellent list of popular and academic books.

A mathematician reads the newspaper by John Allen Paulos
Call Number: QA93 .P385 1995
"With the same user-friendly, quirky, and perceptive approach that made Innumeracy a bestseller, John Allen Paulos travels though the pages of the daily newspaper showing how math and numbers are a key element in many of the articles we read every day. From the Senate, SATs, and sex, to crime, celebrities, and cults, he takes stories that may not seem to involve mathematics at all and demonstrates how a lack of mathematical knowledge can hinder our understanding of them." [publisher description]
Achieving quantitative literacy : an urgent challenge for higher education by Lynn Arthur Steen
Call Number: QA11.A1 S74 2004
ISBN: 9780883858165
""Achieving Quantitative Literacy: An Urgent Challenge for Higher Education" is a response to this need intended to stimulate and support QL conversations on campuses across the country. Growing out of an interdisciplinary forum held at the National Research Council, it summarizes for postsecondary educators and policy makers the major curricular issues surrounding QL. Experts cited in "Achieving Quantitative Literacy" stress the importance of embedding QL across the curriculum and of providing context for learning mathematics. The report includes findings and recommended responses concerning student preparation, public awareness, recognized benchmarks, effective assessment, and professional support." [publisher description]
Damned lies and statistics : untangling numbers from the media, politicians, and activists by Joel Best
Call Number: HM535 .B47 2001
"In this book Best shows us exactly how and why bad statistics emerge, spread, and come to shape policy debates. He recommends specific ways to detect bad statistics, and shows how to think more critically about "stat wars," or disputes over social statistics among various experts. Understanding this book does not require sophisticated mathematical knowledge; Best discusses the most basic and most easily understood forms of statistics, such as percentages, averages, and rates.
This accessible book provides an alternative to either naively accepting the statistics we hear or cynically assuming that all numbers are meaningless. It shows how anyone can become a more intelligent, critical, and empowered consumer of the statistics that inundate both the social sciences and our media-saturated lives." [publisher description]
Evaluating research : methodology for people who need to read research by Francis C. Dane
Call Number: Q180.55 .E9 D355 2011
"Designed for anyone who needs to learn to read and understand empirical reports in the social and behavioral sciences, this multidisciplinary book provides individuals with the knowledge necessary to understand research without overwhelming them with information about how to conduct research. His enthusiasm for methods present on every page, author Francis C. Dane wants readers to have the skills to evaluate research and critically use empirical results. Readers will gain a greater appreciation for the ways in which consuming research can add to their understanding of the way the world works and how they can enhance their efforts to improve it." [publisher description]
Evaluating research articles from start to finish by Girden, Ellen R.
Call Number: Q180.55.E9 G57 2011
"This thoroughly updated new edition of the bestselling text trains students-potential researchers and consumers of research-to critically read a research article from start to finish. Containing 25 engaging samples of ideal and flawed research, the text helps students assess the soundness of the design and appropriateness of the statistical analyses." [publisher description]
Reading educational research : how to avoid getting statistically snookered by Gerald W. Bracey
Call Number: LB1028.25.U6 B73 2006
"With Reading Education Research, nimble-minded number cruncher and award-winning researcher Gerald Bracey takes your hand and walks you through the process of figuring out the meaning behind the figures. You don't need to be a math whiz to follow Bracey because he writes with clarity and humor, explicitly defining statistical terminology in easy-to-understand language and even offering you thirty-two specific principles for assessing the quality of research as you read it." [publisher description]
The visual display of quantitative information by Edward R. Tufte
Call Number: QA276.3 .T84
A classic text on the design of statistical graphics.