Navigating between abstraction and context in secondary school statistics education (Nadando entre dos orillas: abstracción y contexto en educación estadística en Secundaria)

ABSTRACT Context is a key element in statistics education. The objective of this study is to examine the capacity of 14- and 15-year-old students to work with real data, analyse statistical graphs and frequency tables and interpret statistical data in its context. The results of the descriptive, exploratory analysis show that most students were correctly able to analyse and interpret data presented through statistical graphs and tables. However, some students had difficulties when it came to identifying the represented variables. More difficulties arose when calculating and interpreting means and medians — generally produced from the use of class midpoints — and making decisions. Students made little use of the context the data were presented in. Results reinforce the importance of using context in the teaching of statistics, encouraging justified decision-making.