Abstract

This study analyzes community and ancestral mathematical knowledge about volume among students in Indigenous and general primary schools in the state of Hidalgo, Mexico. The objective was to estimate the expected probability of presence of this knowledge (Y₂), considering contextual demographic and cultural factors. Eleven explanatory variables were considered (age, sex, community, municipality, economic community activities, parents and grandparents, parents' and grandparents' education, and school activities), and several counting models were adjusted and compared (Poisson, quasi-Poisson, and negative binomial). Finally, a negative binomial regression model with a log link function was selected. Parameters were estimated using maximum likelihood (Fisher-Scoring), and fit was assessed using deviance, AIC, and the D/df ratio.

Only three predictors were statistically significant: age (β₁=-0.09, p=0.07), community (β₂=-0.61, p<0.001), and school activities (β₃=+0.33, p<0.001). The adjusted deviation of 0.10006 and the lowest AIC (1299.9) indicates a good fit. When transforming the predictions to the original scale, no combination of variables sufficiently raises Y₂ to be considered representative of the presence of knowledge in the communities studied. Although variables such as community and school activities had a significant influence, their practical impact is limited. Whereas the negative binomial model proved to be adequate for explaining the relationship between demographic and contextual variables and volume of knowledge, the coefficients suggest that these factors do not impact the practical representativeness of knowledge.

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