STATISTICAL THINGKING

(Berpikir Statistis)

A. Definisi Berpikir Statistis (Statistical Thinking)

Menurut Likewise, Mooney (2002) dalam Argyl defines “statistical
thinking” as “describing, organizing and reducing, representing, and analyzing
and interpreting data” (p. 25). Incessently, the concepts of the sense-making
processes of organization, representation and interpretation are mentioned. It
seems futile to argue that the sense-making aspects of mathematical thinking are
absent in statistical thinking. Even the socio-cultural aspects of mathematical
thinking can be found if one looks past the surface of the statements of one of the
very authors who denounces the overlap between the two disciplines. Ben-Zvi
(2000) argues:
Thinking of statistics as a liberal art balances its essential technical
expertise with its flexible and broadly applicable mode of thinking and
reasoning about data, variation, and chance. Similar to statistical
thinking, the liberal arts, especially in their philosophical tradition,
encourage skeptical, analytical thinking unconstrained by a priori
standards and recognize that any conclusions are subject to continuing
challenge (p. 129).
Two points immediately come to mind from this passage. First, the idea of
the negotiability of statistics is clearly parallel to the present model’s assertion
that mathematics is also produced by negotiation between mathematical thinkers.
Secondly, and more insidiously, Ben-Zvi asserts that statistical thinking is
objective and without a priori standards, yet clearly standards such as an
acceptable limit for statistics do exist.
Sedangkan Snee (1990) mendefinisikan berpikir statistis sebagai berikut:
“statistical thinking as: thought processes, which recognize that variation is all
around us and present in everything we do, all work is a series of interconnected
processes, and identifying, characterizing, quantifying, controlling, and reducing
variation provide opportunities for improvement”. (berpikir statistis sebagai
proses berpikir, yang mengakui variasi yang ada di sekitar kita dan hadir dalam
segala sesuatu yang kita lakukan, semua pekerjaan serangkaian proses yang saling
berhubungan, dan mengidentifikasi, karakterisasi, pengukuran, pengendalian, dan
mengurangi variasi memberikan kesempatan untuk perbaikan).
 Definisi lebih luas tentang berpikir statistis (statistical thinking)
dikemukakan oleh delMas (2002) bahwa berpikir statistik (statistical thinking)
adalah suatu kemampuan untuk mengerti proses statistik secara keseluruhan
diantaranya proses pengambilan data, pembuatan kuesioner, menentukan variabel,
dan kemampuan menjawab permasalahan yang ada. Untuk lebih memahami
berpikir statistik (statistical thinking) dapat ditempuh langkah-langkah sebagai
berikut :
1. Memiliki penalaran yang baik terhadap cara memilih data sehingga
dapat digunakan untuk menjawab permasalahan yang ada.
2. Memiliki kemampuan untuk menjawab permasalahan dengan baik
berdasarkan data yang ada, dengan cara yang berbeda dan memperoleh
hasil yang tidak jauh berbeda.
3. Memiliki pengertian yang baik terhadap proses statistik secara
keseluruhan termasuk setiap perhitungan yang terlibat dalam proses
tersebut.
4. Memiliki pengertian yang baik terhadap data dan mampu menganalisa
data tersebut dengan baik.
5. Memiliki penalaran untuk memecahkan masalah secara statistik
berdasarkan data yang ada, dan menginterpretasikannya dalam
pengambilan keputusan yang dapat berlaku secara umum.
6. Memiliki penalaran yang lebih luas terhadap statistik, dan tidak hanya
bergantung pada buku.

B. Perbedaan antara Mathematical Thinking dan Statistical Thinking

Overall, it would seem that the present model of mathematical thinking can
certainly also match the literature’s portrayal of statistical thinking. It would be
tempting, at this point, to simply declare that statistical thinking is the same as or
part of mathematical thinking. However, it seems likely that this reasoning could
also demonstrate the potential fit of this model to, say, scientific thinking. While
one might be easily convinced that statistical thinking is a subset of mathematical
thinking, one might also be less inclined to say the same of scientific thinking.
This inclination to disbelieve the same basic argument in a different case is cause
for a moment of reflection. It may be that the philosophical implication of this
dissertation is not that statistics is subsumed by mathematics but simply that they
take the same form cognitively. Likewise, science and mathematics may not be
part of the same system but actually two cognitive systems of isomorphic form. It
is worth noting that the present model explicitly declined to enumerate who was a
member of the mathematical community and which facts are considered part of
the mathematical world. In this way, the key differences between the types of
thinking that undergird science, statistics and mathematics might simply be
selection of community members and norms. This revelation opens the door for
philosophical debate regarding where one discipline ends and the next begins.
(Sean F. Argyl)
In some ways mathematical thinking and statistical thinking may appear
contrary, but when we underline their differences, we will see that they may
support each other. Where mathematics exploits deductive reasoning, statistics
uses more inductive reasoning. While mathematics promotes abstraction, statistics
insists on interpretation in context. Variation and measurement are dealt with
differently in the two disciplines. In summary reasoning in mathematics and
statistics is different.
Mathematics is about logical and deductive reasoning, modelling,
optimizating, and proving results that come logically from axioms and definitions.
In statistics, the same question with the same data may lead to different ways of
analysing and different solutions equally defendable. This requires inductive
reasoning, working with randomness, dealing with counterintuitive results,
drawing uncertain conclusions, and interpreting results.
Mathematics and statistics are different in the ways that they use numbers.
Mathematics mostly deals with numbers, their operations, generalisations, and
‘abstractions’ while for statistics numbers are ‘data linked to a context’, which is
essential to statistical reasoning as well as to mathematical modelling.
DAFTAR PUSTAKA

DelMas, Robert C. (2002). Statistical Literacy, Reasoning, and Learning: A

Commentary. Journal of Statistiks Education Volume10, Number 3
(2002).www.amstat.org/publications/jse/v10n3/delmas_discussion.html.

Snee. (1999), “Discussion: Development and Use of Statistical Thinking: A New

Era,” International Statistical Review, 67, 255-258.