Statistics in Social Context: Using Women in Development Issues for a
Criticalmathematics Literacy Curriculum
Statistics in Social Context: Using Women in Development Issues for a
Criticalmathematics Literacy Curriculumby John Kellermeier.
Published in: (1996). Hunger TeachNet, 6(4), 9-11.
Most students in the US. education system are taught mathematics and statistics using what Frankenstein (1994) calls "functional mathematics curricula... stripped of its relationship to the learner and to our society, concentrating instead on mechanical proficiency and rote memorization." (p22) This approach to mathematics education teaches students to view mathematics as a neutral knowledge system unconnected to such social and political realities as race, class and gender. Yet at the same time, mathematics and particularly statistical knowledge are used throughout our social and political discussions of such issues as race, class and gender. They are used to formulate our societal policies on these issues including, on a global scale, policies on the women and development in the Third World.
A functional mathematics curriculum does not prepare students to critically take part in these discussions and policy formulations. As an alternative to functional mathematics curricula, Frankenstein proposes
"Criticalmathematics literacy, on the other hand, involves the ability to ask basic statistical questions in order to deepen one’s appreciation of particular issues, and the ability to present data to change people’s perceptions of those issues. A critical understanding of numerical data prompts one to question ‘taken-for-granted’ assumptions about how a society is structured and enabling us to act from a more informed position on societal structures and processes." (p23)
A criticalmathematics curriculum would then weave a discussion of social issues into the learning of functional and mechanical mathematics thus preparing students to better participate as global citizens. This paper will discuss how the issues involved in woman and development can be used to develop a criticalmathematics curriculum for teaching introductory statistics.
I teach an introductory statistics course as part of a general education skills requirement. This course is typical of many taught throughout US. higher education. These courses usually introduce students to the fundamentals of probability and statistics using a functional curricula that emphasizes an understanding of the mechanical techniques employed in probability calculations and in data analysis.
However, I teach a course in which an additional hour of class time is devoted to learning about and discussing a particular social issue. These discussion sessions are based upon readings assigned from the literature on that social issue. Emphasis is placed both on the content of the readings and on the ways in which statistical knowledge is used in this content. The discussions are related to the learning of functional statistics through the use of word problems based on the readings.
A criticalmathematics curriculum for teaching statistics in conjunction with the issues of women and development could be based on Janet Momsen’s Women and Development in the Third World (1993). This book gives a good overview of the issues involved in women in development with an excellent use of statistics, charts, maps and case studies to make the relevant points. Included at the end of each chapter are a list of key ideas from that chapter which could serve as a good starting point for student discussions. In order to use this book for a criticalmathematics curriculum it is then necessary to turn the materials found in the book into problems relevant to an introductory statistics course. The remainder of this paper will give examples of such word problems. Each of these examples starts with a quote from Momsen. The statistics given are then used as a basis for a standard probability or statistics problem. In some cases additional assumptions are made or data is simulated that would give the results presented in Momsen.
"In South Asia masculine sex ratios have become more extreme over time with the ratio for India increasing from 103 males per 100 females in 1901 to 107 in 1981" (Momsen, p11). Suppose a sample of Indian adults from 1901 consisted of 103 males and 100 females, while a sample of Indian adults from 1981 consisted of 107 males and 100 females. Would this data be sufficient at the 0.05 level of significance to conclude that the masculine sex ratio in India had increased from 1901 to 1981?
"Much of the research focusing on Third World women has looked at biological reproduction in isolation from commodity production and has ignored social reproduction. Women perform the great bulk of domestic tasks in all societies. Even in Cuba where, by statute, men are supposed to assist women in such work, 82 per cent of women in the capital city, Havana, and 96 per cent of the women in the countryside have sole responsibility for domestic chores. The equivalent figure in Britain in 1988 was 72 per cent" (Momsen, p37). Suppose samples of 15 women are chosen from each of Havana, the Cuban countryside, and Britain.
a. How many women in each of these samples would you expect to have sole responsibility for domestic chores?
b. For each sample, what is the probability that less than 12 women have sole responsibility for domestic chores?
"In most rural communities women work longer hours than men and have less leisure time. In the Gambia, women spend 159 days per year in work on the farm while men spend only 103 days a year in farmwork" (Momsen, p57). Suppose this data is based upon a sample of 45 women and 53 men with means and standard deviations as follows.
Days spent per year on farmwork Mean Standard Deviation Women 159 20 Men 103 19 Determine a 95% confidence interval for the difference between the number of days per year spent on farmwork by men and women in Gambia.
"Few poor Third World homes have the domestic appliances commonly available in industrialized countries and housework is a very heavy burden. It is estimated that married women in Malaysia who do housework and are in paid employment outside the home spend, on average, 112 hours per week working, while the equivalent figure for the United States is 59 hours. Thus women’s handicap in the labour market because of domestic responsibilities may be growing rather than diminishing in many Third World cities" (Momsen, p73). Suppose for these Malaysian women the number of hours spent working each week is normally distributed with a mean of 112 hours.
a. If the standard deviation of the number of hours spent working per week is 10 hours, what per cent of these Malaysian women would work less than 59 hours per week?
b. If the standard deviation if 30 hours, what per cent would work less than 59 hours pre week?
"In some parts of Uttar Pradesh state women have to walk 24-32 kilometres to find drinking water” (Momsen, p97). Suppose the distance required by women in remote areas of Uttar Pradesh to walk to find drinking water has a mean of 28 kilometers and a standard deviation of 1.6 kilometers. What is the probability that a sample of 40 women would have to walk a combined total of more than 1000 kilometers to get drinking water for their families?
Word problems such as these examples, combined with a discussion of the readings from Momsen will make a criticalmathematics curriculum for teaching statistics. In addition to learning the traditional functional content of introductory statistics, students will learn the ways in which statistics are used to frame the discussions of social issues and in particular how women in the Third World are affected by development.
| Copyright 2003 John Kellermeier | Return to John Kellermeier's Home Page |