Which statement best defines a statistical question?

• A. It has a single yes or no answer
• B. It asks for a fixed numeric value
• C. It can be answered by collecting data with variability, such as a percent, range, or average
• D. It cannot be tested with data

Answer: (C)

Statistical questions rely on information that can vary. They invite collecting data from many cases and then describing what the data show with numbers such as a percent, a range, or an average. Because there is variation among individuals or items, the answer isn’t a single fixed value but something that can be summarized across the data. For example, asking what percent of students prefer a lunch option or what the average test score is across a class fits this idea, since you would gather responses and report a statistic like a percent or an average.

This differs from questions that have a single yes-or-no answer, or demand one exact numeric value, or cannot be tested with data. Those aren't about analyzing data from groups or samples.