Rule-based item design of statistical word problems: A review and first implementation

Although a large body of research has been published with respect to arithmetic word problems, few studies have investigated statistical word problems in detail. This article therefore pursues two goals: Firstly, a review of current design and analysis of statistical word problems is provided. Secondly, results from a pilot study with systematically-designed statistical word problems are reported. Using the linear-logistic test model (LLTM) as well as the latent regression LLTM, we have found that the postulated cognitive model fits the data well overall. The study provides evidence that statistical word problems can be designed and analysed in a systematic way, and that the proposed cognitive model of solving statistical word problems can be successfully used in future assessments.