Measuring Numeracy in a Community College Context: Assessing the Reliability of the Subjective Numeracy Scale

In this paper, our goals were to assess the suitability of the Subjective Numeracy Scale (SNS), developed for health-care use, in a new context with predominantly minority students at a South Bronx community college and to identify any race/ ethnicity, gender, and ESL enrollment effects. The scale assesses perceptions of quantitative reasoning skills and preferences for data presentation. This scale was given to a convenience sample of students in behavioral sciences classes. Results show that the SNS scale was reliable with our sample using the full thirteen-question scale or the shorter eight-item version. Gender, race/ ethnicity, and English as a Second Language (ESL) are related to perceptions of QR/QL. This study may help researchers see the SNS as a reliable instrument across samples and as a way to measure numeracy. The results of the multivariate analyses raise questions for future research about cultural differences for numerical presentation among these ethnic groups and our international student population.

Abstract licence: CC BY-NC

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