Name ______________________________________ Date ________ Period ____
Unit 12: Statistics – Statistical Questions ANSWERS
Read each question carefully and answer them in your math notebook. You may also
type your answers if you prefer to. I will post the assignment as a word document and
then you can open it and type your answers directly under the question. Please then
glue the assignment into your math notebook so it won’t get lost!
1. What is the difference between a question that is statistical and one that is
not?
A statistical question has many possible answers whereas a non-statistical
question will only have one possible answer.
2. Give an example of a question that you could ask that class that would be
considered statistical. Do not use an example from class.
How many hours a week do the students in the grade spend doing math
homework?
3. Give an example of a question that you could ask the class that would not
be considered statistical. Do not use an example from class.
How many houses have you lived in since you were born?
4. What is the difference between numerical date and categorical data? Give
an example of each in your explanation. Do not use an example from class.
Numerical data is data that is in number form and can be manipulated
mathematically. Shoe size would be an example of numerical data.
Categorical data is data that can be classified by type. While categorical
data could be a number, it would not be numbers that can be manipulated
mathematically. An example of categorical data could be the colors of Legos
you have at home.
5. Write a statistical question that can be answered by collecting data from
students in your class.
How many houses have the students in the grade lived in since they were
born?
6. Change the following question to make it a statistical question: “How old is
my math teacher?”
How old are the teachers in the Middle School?
7. Jerome collects baseball cards. For each of the following statistical
questions, students asked Jerome to identify whether the data are
numerical or categorical. Explain your answer, and list four possible data
values.
a. How old are the cards in the collection?
NUMERICAL – this question is numerical because the anticipated data
1
will be numbers. Four possible data values are 2 years, 2.5 years, 4
3
years and 20 years.
b. How much did the cards in the collection cost?
NUMERICAL – this question is numerical because the anticipated data
will be numbers. Four possible data values are $1.20, $10.00, $0.35
and $50.00.
c. Where did you get the cards?
CATEGORICAL – this question is categorical because the anticipated
data will be the name of places. Four possible data values are, a tag
sale, a store, from a friend, and found in the attic.
8. Indicate whether each of the following questions is a statistical question.
Explain why or why not.
a. How much does Susan’s dog weigh?
This is not a statistical question. This question is not answered by
collecting data that varies.
b. How much do the dogs belonging to students at our school weigh?
This is a statistical question. This question would be answered by
collecting data on weights of dogs. There is variability in these
weights.
9. If you collected data on the weights of dogs, would the data be numerical or
categorical? Explain how you know it is numerical or categorical.
NUMERICAL – this question is numerical because the anticipated data will
be numbers.
10. For each of the following, determine whether the question is a statistical
question. Give a reason for your answer.
a. How many letters are in my last name?
No, this question is not answered by collecting data that vary.
b. How many letters are in the last names of the students in my 6th grade
class?
Yes there is variability in the lengths of the last names.
c. What are the colors of the shoes worn by the students in my school?
Yes, we expect variability in the colors.
d. What is the maximum number of feet that roller coasters drop during
a ride?
Yes, we expect variability in feet to drop for different roller coasters;
are not all the same.
e. What are the heart rates of the students in a 6th grade class?
Yes, we expect variability. Not all 6th graders have exactly the same
heart rate.
f. How many hours of sleep per night do 6th graders usually get when
they have school the next day?
Yes, we do not expect that all 6th graders have exactly the same heart
rate.
g. How many miles per gallon do compact cars get?
Yes, we expect variability in the mileage per gallon. Not all compact
cars get the same mileage.
11. Identify each of the following data sets as categorical (C) or numerical (N).
Explain your answer.
a. Number of languages spoken by each of 20 adults
(N) – each value in the data set will be a number.
b. Favorite sport of each person in a group of 20 adults
(C) – each value in the data set will be a type of sport which is a
category.
c. Number of pets for each of 40 3rd graders
(N) – each value in the data set will be a number.
d. Number of hours a week spent reading a book for a group of middle
school students
(N) – each value in the data set will be a number.
12. Rewrite each of the following questions as a statistical question.
a. How many pets does your teacher have?
How many pets does each teacher in the school have?
b. How many points did the high school soccer team score in its last
game?
How many points did the high school soccer team score in each match
last season?
c. How many pages are in our math book?
How many pages are in each math textbook used in the middle and
high school?