Relative risk analysis of educational data

Abstract: This paper demonstrates the use of relative risk, a statistic which is widely used in other areas but currently under-utilised in education. Relative risk analysis provides a language for comparing educational outcomes as well as statistical tests of significance. We illustrate this statistic with data on students' understanding of decimal notation. In particular, we determine differences in how misconceptions operate at different ages, by analysing the relative risk of primary and secondary students persisting with particular misconceptions, and becoming experts.

Stacey, K., & Steinle, V. (2005). Relative risk analysis of educational data. In P. Clarkson, A. Downton, D. Gronn, M. Horne, A. McDonough, R. Pierce & A. Roche (Eds.) Building Connections: Research, theory and practice. Proceedings of the 28th Annual Conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia, (Vol. 2, pp. 696-703). Melbourne: MERGA.