RUNNING HEAD: CRITICAL REVIEW
MGMT-650
University of Maryland Global Campus
WORRY INTOLERANCE OF ANXIETY, AND STATISTICS ANXIETY
Critical Review
Despite statistical units being critical to students' academic and professional journey,
many consider statistics-associated courses as the most dreadful subjects in the curriculum.
Statistics knowledge helps develop both qualitative and quantitative empirical investigations
(Birenbaum & Eylath, 1994). Similarly, the statistical background is vital in understanding
professional literature related to research. Further, in the present-day information-rich world,
knowledge in statistics is imperative to comprehend daily trends reported in different news
outlets and enhancing better decision making. Several scholars report that most students avoid
taking statistical courses, while others procrastinate enrolling in such units. The current paper
critically reviews the article by Amanda Williams (2013) on the title "Worry, Intolerance of
Uncertainty, and Statistics Anxiety."
Overview
Williams (2013) begins by stating that some of the factors affecting statistics anxiety
include academic results, attitudes towards the subject, personal characteristics, and self-
concepts. The study claims a gap in research concerning cognitive processes such as worry and
uncertainty intolerance that influence statistics anxiety. To answer the research question on
whether statistics anxiety is dependent on worry and intolerance of uncertainty, Williams (2013)
first introduces the paper by reviewing past studies related to the topic under study. The study
cites research carried out by Cruise et al. (1985) on the six types of statistics anxiety, namely, the