Name: ___________________ Date: ______________________
Lesson 15-1 Statistical Questions
Focus Question: How can a question have more than one answer? How do you decide which answer to
use?
Examples/Key Concepts
Key Concept
A statistical question is a question that investigates an aspect of the world and can have more
than one possible response.
Statistical Questions
How old are students in my class?
How do my friends get to school?
Questions that are Not Statistical
How old am I?
How did I get to school today?
Answer
They are 10, 11, and 12 years old.
They walk, ride a bike, take the bus, and take
the train.
Answer
I am 11 years old.
I walked to school today.
Part 2 Example
Which questions are statistical? Why are not? Why?
Statistical
Not Statistical
Part 3 Intro
When you ask a statistical question, the responses that you get are data.
Data are numbers or other pieces of information collected by asking questions, measuring, or
making observations about the real world.
Name: ___________________ Date: ______________________
Additional Practice
1. Why is the following question a statistical question?
How many minutes did students spend playing video games last weekend?
Choose the correct answer below.
o A. Students might have played more than one video game in one weekend.
o B. Some students might not have played any video games.
o C. Different students might have spent different amounts of time playing video games.
o D. The question asks about only one weekend.
2. Some children were playing at the park yesterday. A parent later recalled that some of the
children were wearing the kinds of clothing listed.
Which of the following questions could the parent answer?
Select all that apply.
 A. What time of day were the children playing in the park?
 B. How long was each child at the park?
 C. What games were the children playing?
 D. What was the weather like at the park yesterday?
3. You want to learn about the recycling habits of people in your neighborhood. Which of the
following is a statistical question for this situation?
 A. How many cans did your family recycle last month?
 B. How many newspapers did your family recycle last month?
 C. How many times did your neighbors recycle cardboard last month?
4. Which of the following, if any, are statistical questions?
1. Does the largest parking garage in Chicago have more than four floors?
2. How much do drivers spend on gasoline in a week?
3. How many times did Sara have salad with her dinner last month?
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
A. Only questions 1 and 3
B. Only questions 1 and 2
C. Only question 2
D. Only questions 2 and 3
E. Only question 1
F. Only question 3
G. All three questions
H. None of the questions