Educational Research - the Ethics and Aesthetics of Statistics

10 The Good, the Beautiful and the Literate: Making Statistics Accessible for Action 155
has given rise to a somewhat independent conception of statistical literacy and,
accordingly, to a new field of study which is called statistics education. This field of
study has emerged as an important and sufficiently independent discipline – with its
own conferences and journals – that supports the teaching and learning of statistics.
Statistics education, as a specific area within educational theory, can thus be seen
as a product of the convergence of statistics, on the one hand, and mathematics
education, on the other hand – and is currently establishing itself as a unique field
of study (Garfield & Ben-Zvi, 2008).
The growing interest in the accessibility of statistics goes hand in hand with the
fact that statistical information is, as argued in the Wiener Kreis manifesto, ‘penetrating
in growing measure the forms of personal and public life’ (Neurath &
Cohen, 1973, p. 317). It was part of the ethical–political–societal agenda of Otto
Neurath, as referred to above, to bring the scientific world-conception closer to
human beings’ ordinary lives. We can see the same ethical–political–societal programme
within educational theory where the questions of literacy became a matter
of ethical considerations based on the general idea of emancipation, which can be
found in UNESCO’s view on education. Moreover, we see in UNESCO’s mission
an interest not only in socio-economic development, but also the ambition to realise
an enduring and peaceful world, while respecting diversity and maintaining human
rights. Above all, UNESCO believes that education is the key to social and economic
development. We work for a sustainable world with just societies that value
knowledge, promote a culture of peace, celebrate diversity and defend human rights.
This can be achieved by providing education for all.
The translation of this mission of the UNESCO Education Sector is to
• Provide international leadership for creating learning societies with educational
opportunities for all populations;
• Provide expertise and foster partnerships to strengthen national educational leadership
and the capacity of countries to offer quality education for all (UNESCO,
1948).
The development of a universal pictorial language for statistical data, such as the
one conceived by Otto Neurath was (one of) the earliest ‘didactical’ innovations to
realise a generalised accessibility. However, as we noted earlier, visualising (statistical)
information is just one aspect of a more complex matter. The meaning of
the concept ‘statistical literacy’ has experienced an evolution since it came into
existence. It became more strongly associated with ethics (Wallman, 1993). In
the following section we will elaborate on this important shift in the meaning of
statistical literacy.
Initially the term ‘statistical literacy’ was used to describe the knowledge that
people need in order to technically understand and make decisions based on statistical
analysis. Haack (1979) states that in order to interpret statistics people need to
consider and scrutinise certain aspects of them, which include the source, the type
of data, definition and measurement problems and certain considerations concerning
the survey sample. As with most authors who began to develop the concept of