Statistical Questions NOTES.notebook
March 11, 2014
Understanding Statistical Variability
STATISTICAL QUESTION - A question which results in
multiple and varying NUMERICAL answers rather than one single
answer
Examine each question for variability:
1) What grade did Hannah get on her math test?
Is this a statistical question? YES or NO
WHY or WHY NOT? _________________________________
________________________________________________
2) Who earned a better grade, Frank or Grant?
Is this a statistical question?
YES or NO
WHY or WHY NOT? _________________________________
________________________________________________
3) What grades did everyone in 2nd period math earn on the test?
Is this a statistical question?
YES or NO
WHY or WHY NOT? _________________________________
________________________________________________
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Statistical Questions NOTES.notebook
March 11, 2014
Circle either STATISTICAL or NOT STATISTICAL for each
question.
1) How many years old are the twin boys?
STATISTICAL or NOT STATISTICAL
2) How old are the players on the Atlanta Hawks?
STATISTICAL or NOT STATISTICAL
3) How much taller are you this year than last year?
STATISTICAL or NOT STATISTICAL
4) How much does the laptop you saw last night cost?
STATISTICAL or NOT STATISTICAL
5) How many days does it usually snow in each state in March?
STATISTICAL or NOT STATISTICAL
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Statistical Questions NOTES.notebook
March 11, 2014
CONSTRUCTING A STATISTICAL QUESTION
Students in a science class want to collect data on the amount of physical activity
in which their classmates participate each week. What is a statistical question
the students can ask to collect the data?
1st - ANALYZE the kind of data to be collected: amounts of physical activity
• TOO GENERAL - Do you exercise sometimes?
• TOO SPECIFIC - Do you exercise 1 hour every day?
• Both of these questions have "yes/no" answers, so you cannot analyze the data
any further.
2nd - DESIGN the question - FOCUS THE QUESTION
• If you ask how many days eachs tudent exercises each week and for how long,
that might be too much data to interpret; the question is not focused enough
• A better question might focus on the number of days each week the students
exercise for a minimal amount of time such as 30 minutes.
• SAMPLE QUESTION: How many days each week do you get at least 30
minutes of physical activity?
3rd - REVIEW the question
• Check that the question has statistical variability. The answers to the sample
question can be any number from 0 to 7, so you get a VARIETY OF NUMBER
answers.
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Statistical Questions NOTES.notebook
March 11, 2014
Let's construc a statistical question:
You want to collect data on how much time your classmates spend
watching television. Write a sample question you could ask that
would help you obtain the desired data?
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
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