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Recognize Statistical Questions

Students learn to distinguish between statistical questions (which anticipate variability in responses) and non-statistical questions (which have a single definitive answer). They generate examples of each type and explain why variability makes a question statistical.

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Recognize Statistical Questions

Grade 6 · Statistics and Data Analysis · question 1 of 3

0 of 20

20 rungs. A star at the top.

Which question expects answers that vary? Highlight it.

Highlight the statistical question.

How many sides does a hexagon have? How tall are the players on the school team? How many minutes are in an hour?

How it is taught

0:00 of 3:46

A statistical question expects answers that vary.

A question with one fixed answer is not statistical.

Read it: Questions whose answers vary

"How long does my teacher sleep each night?" has one answer. "How long do the students in my class sleep each night?" gets a different answer from each student, so it takes data to answer: it is a statistical question.

  1. Imagine asking the question of many people, or on many days.
  2. If the answers would vary, the question is statistical.
  3. If everyone would give the same answer, it is not.

Statistics is about data that varies: a single answer is a fact, not data.

A question about a whole group usually has answers that vary.

A question about one person or one thing usually has just one answer.

A statistical question expects answers that vary.

Calling a question statistical because its answer is a number.

"How many legs does a spider have?" has a number for its answer, but only one: it is not statistical.

Is "How many days are in April?" a statistical question? — No. It has one answer, the same for everyone.

How tall am I? vs. How tall are students in our class?

Some questions have just one answer. Others have many different answers. Let's learn to tell them apart.

Here's our first question: How tall am I?

There's only one answer — fifty-two inches. My height doesn't change from person to person.

Because there's just one answer, this is NOT a statistical question.

Now try this one: How tall are the students in our class?

Different students have different heights. The answers vary.

Look at the spread — answers stretch from forty-nine all the way to fifty-six inches.

Because the answers vary, this IS a statistical question!

Statistical or Not?One answer, or many?Q1How tall am I?52 inches— just one answer✗NOT a statistical questionQ2How tall are students in our class?48 in58 in4951525456answers vary✓IS a statistical questionVariability → StatisticalREMEMBERVary =Statdifferent answers
Grade 6 · Spotting variability in answers

Here's the rule: a statistical question expects variability — answers that are different.

One answer? Not statistical. Answers vary? Statistical. Great work!

What you see

While they climb, your page writes one true line to ask about tonight, and a short note each Sunday.

MayaGrade 3 · Mathematics
Did you know?

A chessboard has 64 squares — share them out between the 8 rows and each row holds exactly 8.

Today’s goal
1 star — one skill mastered, every rung of its ladder climbed
Climbing now
Divide within 100

An example student.

MayaGrade 3 · Mathematics

Maya earned 2 stars this week — Interpret multiplication as equal groups, which took 6 answers over 3 days before its star landed 3 days ago and Multiply by 6, 7, 8 and 9. Next up: Divide within 100.

An example week.

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