Table 5.

Three themes of students’ definition of statistics.

Category name	Basis of the category	Example	% of responses
Gathering: Extrinsic technical	Focus on technique	Statistics is a way to summarize information to aid understanding and collecting data.	37%
Applying: Extrinsic meaning	Focus on data	Meaning of numbers, the process is mathematics but the product is info and knowledge.	21%
Creating: Intrinsic meaning	Focus on meaning	Statistics is a tool in analyzing and interpreting real life events set in a data. This could be an application aid in preparing future plans and a guide for possible actions for whatever purposes it may serve.	7%