Statistical Questions Types of Data and Questions Explained

hey everyone, Justin here. can survey you really quickly? It's to help me answer two questions. The first question is: How many siblings do Miacademy students have? How many siblings do you have? Okay. and the second question want to answer is: What are Miacademy students’ favorite subjects? What's your favorite subject? Got it, thank you. You might be wondering why I'm asking these questions. Well, I'm gathering data. Data is information we collect to learn something or solve problem. Data is used every day — whether it's to analyze the performance of business, or to monitor patients to give them the right treatment, or even to ensure your social media content contains things you're interested in. In this unit, we'll be learning all about data and statistics. Statistics is the branch of math focused on ways we collect, organize, and interpret data. So what are we waiting for? Let's get into it. My two questions help me learn how many siblings Miacademy students have and what their favorite subjects are. These questions are examples of statistical questions. statistical question is question that can be answered by collecting data. Here's some of the data that collected from these two questions: Vinnie has three siblings while Julia has two siblings. Malcolm's favorite subject is financial literacy and Tina's favorite subject is math. You get the idea — when we ask statistical question, there will be more than one possible answer. Take these two questions for instance: What are Americans’ favorite fast food restaurants? And what is the capital of the United States? Based on what you've learned so far, which one of these is statistical question? Yes! The question about favorite fast food restaurants is statistical question because it could be answered by collecting data that varies. If we surveyed people for their favorite fast food restaurant, we'd receive different answers. Why wouldn’t “What is the capital of the United States?” be statistical question? Right — it's non-statistical question because this question does not require data to be collected and it only has one single fixed correct answer. It is fact that Washington, D.C. is the capital of the United States. If we were to change this into statistical question, it would be something like: “How many people in my neighborhood know the capital of the U.S.?” Why would this new question be statistical question? What makes it statistical? Yeah, it's statistical question now because it requires data to be collected to answer that question. In your guided notes, there are four questions in the Statistical vs. Nonstatistical section. Go through them and classify each question as statistical or nonstatistical. And if you're stuck, ask yourself: “Does this question require data to be collected?” and “Does the question have more than one answer?” Pause now and come back when you're done. All right, from the top. What is the largest ocean on Earth? Does this question require data to be collected, and does this question have more than one answer? We don't need to collect data to answer it, and this question has only one answer — the Pacific Ocean — so this is nonstatistical question. How about the question: What are the most preferred vacation destinations among families? Do we need to collect data for this question? Yes! And different families will have different answers, so this is statistical question. The next question is: How many hours do people spend on social media each day — statistical or nonstatistical? This is statistical question. Why? We would need to collect data on social media usage to answer this question, and different people use social media differently. The last question is: How many states border Montana — statistical or nonstatistical? This is nonstatistical question. Why? We don't need to collect data to answer this, and there's single fixed answer — four states border Montana. Now, if we look at the two statistical questions, both of these are statistical questions, but they have very important difference. If we collected data for the most preferred vacation destinations among families, what are some possible answers? Maybe Orlando, Italy, Canada, Cancun, San Diego. But if we collected data for the number of hours people spend on social media each day, what are some possible answers for that? Maybe 1/2, 3, 4.5, 6... What difference do you see between the data that's collected? The data for vacation destinations uses words, while the data for the number of hours on social media uses numbers — like, you know... math class. What we've just seen are the two types of data. Qualitative data is information that describes things and uses words. Think of things like written reviews of restaurant or the colors of cars in parking lot. Quantitative data is information that can be measured or counted and uses numbers — as in heights of everyone in movie theater or the number of books in libraries across the U.S. good way to remember the difference between qualitative and quantitative is to focus on the root words. “Qualitative” has the root word quality, and quality is used to describe characteristics. “Quantitative,” though, has the root word quantity, and quantity is used when we're working with numbers or amounts. In your guided notes, there are four descriptions of data in the Qualitative vs. Quantitative section. Go through them and classify each description as qualitative or quantitative. If you're stuck, ask yourself: “Will this data be described in words or measured in numbers?” Pause now and come back when you're done. If the data we collect is the brands of cars in parking garage, is that data described in words or measured in numbers? Brands of cars are described in words. So is that data qualitative or quantitative? Brands of cars are examples of qualitative data. How about the description: daily temperatures in city? Will this data be described in words or measured in numbers? Temperatures are measured in numbers, so this is an example of quantitative data. The next description is: favorite genres of music — qualitative or quantitative? This is qualitative. Why? Since genres of music are described in words, this is an example of qualitative data. The last description is: weights of players on football team — qualitative or quantitative? This is quantitative. Why? Since weight is measured in numbers, this is an example of quantitative data. Great work, mathematicians! Today you learned how to differentiate between statistical and nonstatistical questions, and how to differentiate between qualitative and quantitative data. In the next lesson, we'll explore how we can best collect data fairly and effectively. As for me, I'm off to continue surveying other students. See you next time!