Overview

Welcome to the home of the Surveys of Motivational Attitudes toward Statistics (SOMAS) and the Surveys of Motivational Attitudes toward Data Science (SOMADS). Our goal is to develop a family of validated, theory-based instruments (students, instructor, and environment) for statistics and data science attitudes. There are a total of six instruments being developed:

Student InstrumentInstructor InstrumentEnvironment Inventory
StatisticsS-SOMASI-SOMASE-SOMAS
Data ScienceS-SOMADSI-SOMADSE-SOMADS

Development began first on the S-SOMAS because the area of attitudes toward statistics has a more robust research literature to draw on, and lessons learned from the development of this instrument will inform the development of the others. As of August 2022, the S-SOMAS instrument has been through multiple rounds of piloting, and the I-SOMAS, E-SOMAS, and S-SOMADS are in their first pilot phase.

Looking Ahead

Check the News & Updates page for the latest information about the SOMAS/SOMADS instruments. Data and code produced as part of this project will be hosted on our GitHub page. Right now this site is under construction and the format will likely change as the project grows, but new content is being routinely added! Ultimately, this site will be a central point for:

  • Registering for/administering surveys
  • Data collected by the project (individual and anonymized)
  • Guides for using the SOMAS/SOMADS surveys
  • Results (papers, presentations, etc.)