Stated conclusions should be critically evaluated to ensure validity.
Certain statistical summaries may be omitted in the real world.
In order to make more accurate conclusions, you need the data set and the conditions it was collected in.

Common misconception

Reporting two averages when asked to make two comparisons between sets of data.

Mean, media and mode essentially measure the same thing: central tendency. So use one of the comparisons to comment on the spread of data.

Keywords

Statistical summary - A statistical summary sums up the features of a data set.
Central tendency - A summary measure that attempts to describe a whole set of data with a single value that represents the middle or centre of its distribution
Range - The range is a measure of spread. It is found by finding the difference between the highest and lowest values

Ask pupils to sketch possible dotplots for a dataset when they are given an average and the range. E.g. 10 people throw darts at a target; the mean score was 30 points and the range was 8 points.

Teacher tip

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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Worksheet

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.

The dot plot represents a set of data. The mode for this data is .

Correct Answer: 2, two

Q2.

The dot plot represents a set of data. The median for this data is .

Correct Answer: 3, three

Q3.

The dot plot represents a set of data. The mean for this data is

Correct Answer: 5, five

Q4.

The dot plot represents a set of data. The range for this data is

Correct Answer: 8, eight

Q5.

Select all of the measures that are types of averages.

Correct answer: mean

Correct answer: median

Correct answer: mode

range

total

Q6.

Two classes of pupils sit a test. The range of scores in Class A is 22; the range in scores for Class B is 35. Which conclusion is valid for this statistical summary?

The scores in Class A tended to be higher than the scores in Class B.

The scores in Class A tended to be lower than the scores in Class B.

Correct answer: The scores in Class A tended to be more consistent than the scores in Class B.

The scores in Class A tended to be less consistent than the scores in Class B.

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.

The central tendency of a dataset can be described by using an , such as the mean, median or mode.

Correct Answer: average

Q2.

The spread of a dataset can be described by using the .

mean

median

mode

Correct answer: range

Q3.

The table shows summary statistics about how many points each person scored during a series of hockey games. The mode suggests that tended to score the highest each game.

Correct Answer: Sofia, sofia

Q4.

The table shows summary statistics about how many points each person scored during a series of hockey games. Which measure suggests that Jun tended to score the highest in each game?

Correct answer: mean

median

mode

range

Q5.

The table shows summary statistics about how many points each person scored during a series of hockey games. Which measure suggests that Aisha tends to score the highest in each game?

mean

Correct answer: median

mode

range

Q6.

The table shows summary statistics about how many points each person scored during a series of hockey games. Whose scores tend to be the most consistent?

Aisha

Correct answer: Jun

Sofia