What are the major significance of statistical literacy in attaining real economic growth and development in a country.
Thank you.
Oluwaseun
Refer to
Statistical Literacy at the School Level:
What Should Students Know and Do?
http://www.ksh.hu/cess2016/pdf/cess2016_a12_2647.pdf
Statistical literacy is the ability to appreciate, understand and interpret statistical data and apply this understanding to real life situations. It is appreciating the integrity and sanctity of data. National development is dependent on the collection and analysis of accurate data. Therefore statistical literacy will promote economic development.
Economic development is a function of several factors, one of which economic growth is primary. There are two ways by which statistical literacy of the citizens of a country can enhance the attainment of economic development as per your inquiry: the first is its direct impact on economic growth which indirectly affects economic development (remember that growth is a subset of development); the second is the impact on development via other channels.
Economic growth occurs when resources in an economy are able to produce more than they used to (in terms of potential output/production). In an economy where growth occurs, one of the main drivers of that growth among those resources is increased productivity (or increase) in human resources. For human resources to abound beyond what it was at a previous time, there is a significant investment in human capital, which implies that education is first improved. Statistical literacy is one of the functions of improved education. In other words, education cannot be said to have significantly improved unless citizens gain more statistical awareness, management, understanding and use, which are all blocks of statistical literacy. In effect, by developing statistical literacy in an economy and thereby developing human capital, economic growth is driven to positivity. As the economy grows significantly, all other factors of development being equal, economic development is also attained.
That being a channel, statistical literacy can enhance the attainment of economic development by other channels such as indexing increased education (as mentioned earlier), increasing the participation of citizens in national and sub-national affairs which in turn leads to their continuous watch on their welfare, informing citizens of the actual state of the economy and society and guiding them on the best choices to make, informing individuals of the importance of their participation in surveys and thereby making household data more reliable for policy making and other uses, etc. For instance, think of two individuals in two different economies with equal status except that country A records a higher statistical literacy index among its citizens (one of whom our hypothetical individual and a typical citizen, X, is) while B records a lower index of statistical literacy among its citizens (including the other individual and another typical citizen, Y). When global statistical exercises show the danger of certain human practices and the impact on both private health and social health (say the effects of household refuse burning on general health), publications and mass media information resulting from the exercises will:
(a) be more sought after by X, who understands and appreciates the importance of statistical processes, than by Y, who does not as much take account of statistical processes;
(b) be more utilized by X than Y; thereby,
(c) cause X to reduce such harmful behaviour to the abundance of his health as well as his society's (all things being equal on X's psychic) more than Y can reduce (if he ever will); therefore,
(d) make X record a healthier life, leading to greater social welfare/development for country A, than it will make Y record a healthy life, which leads to less social welfare/economic development.
From the foregoing, statistical literacy is shown to tend an economy towards growth and development.
Dear Profs. Mousumi and Ette Etuk, I really appreciate your contributions to the discussion. Also, @ Abiodun Adelere, thank you for sharing your extensive contribution.
It is useful in government appropriate policy formulation.
Thank you.
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