Assessing Statistical Knowledge and Training Needs among Professionals in Ecuadorian Businesses: Implications for Education

Abstract

A study was conducted to assess the knowledge and frequency of use of statistics among professional roles from various businesses in different economic sectors in Ecuador. A tool was designed, based on the Guide for Evaluation and Instruction in Statistical Education and the Handbook of Statistical Methods by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which made it possible to analyze the aptitudes of different professionals in relation to the use of statistics along their enterprises from different economic sectors. The data was collected by interviews and surveys to 246 people working in factories around the country. For instance, the results showed around 75% of the commerce sector requires to be more trained in reliability techniques, unfortunately the expertise of the majority of the sample shows that this part of the statistics it not a strength. The results also showed a lack of knowledge of statistical topics among the different professionals according to their professional roles. This study suggests that there is a need and an opportunity to increase education and training in the use of statistics within professional roles in several businesses around Ecuador.