Effect of the representation of information on the statistical literacy level of high school students in fake news

Abstract

Currently, the impact of fake news has increased exponentially due, in part, to the ease with which it can be disseminated through social networks. This makes young people, the majority users of social networks, the group most exposed to this type of news, which usually includes numerical information represented in different ways. The aim of this work is to study the effect of the representation (frequency, graph, percentage or probability) in which certain biased information is presented on the level of statistical literacy of Baccalaureate students. The results show a low level of statistical literacy of the students regardless of the form in which the information is given, with a slight improvement in the case in which the information is presented in the form of frequency.