12 | Numeracy

 

According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, numeracy is " The ability to understand and work with numbers: the quality or state being numerate." Numbers are everywhere, and have a significance on everything, and that also extends into mass media. Having the comprehension of numeracy is very important to help navigate through mass media and digital landscapes. 

Statistics and numbers are a huge part of the content we consume on a daily basis, whether we know it or not. Statistics allow us to analyze data more easily through numeracy. Statistics in data can be shown through crime reports, election polls, or even economic reports. All of these help us as a society stay well informed, about what's going on around us just by studying the numbers. 

 

An example of a Crime Rate from Statista

According to The National Center for Education Statistics, 38.6% of United States adults are operating at low numeracy skills. Numeracy allows us to take numbers, graphs, and vast amounts of information we absorb through mass media and interpret everything. But this is also why we must as a society improve our numeracy skills, so that whatever is being referenced somewhere in mass media is being understood and related in our society, not just passed along. 

Numeracy will be present in our society no matter what profession you are in. Numeracy gives us the vision and the advantage to clearly explain, communicate, and teach. Numeracy may be about numbers, but it is also about the broader overview.