Abstract

This study aims at gaining insights into how people make sense of statistical graphs. The corpus of data in this study came from individual interviews of three statistics educators and 22 statistics learners as they performed a Sorting Task. This task was designed based on the theory of discernment. Participants sorted, explained, and re-sorted 12 graphs into different idiosyncratic categories. They were then asked to discuss the reasons for these categories. How participants sorted the graphs and their discussions of the graphs were interrogated for their statistical sense-making components of beliefs, habits of mind, and knowledge. This study unveiled three levels in the sense-making of statistical graphs.