Chapter 21: Developing Concepts of Data Analysis
MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or
answers the question.
1) Which of the following is a true statement regarding young students and data collection?
a) They don’t yet have a good grasp of what makes a good question for data collection, so the teacher
should develop the ones used in class.
b) The need to gather data rarely occurs within the regular context of the classroom, so the teacher
needs to be creative.
c) Students should be given opportunities to discuss how to collect the data.
d) If the teacher developed the question about which the data will be collected, discussion about how
well it is defined is not needed.
2) Which of the following is NOT a good source from which to draw ideas for data collection?
a) The students’ favorite things
b) Analysis of characteristics between the students in different classrooms
c) Science class
d) Any context that students can’t relate to
SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or
answers the question.
3) _____________________________ are the characteristics by which items or information can be classified.
TRUE/FALSE. Write “T” if the statement is true and “F” if the statement is false.
4) Students should be involved in the process of deciding how they would like to display their data. Even
inexperienced students can make these decisions with no guidance or suggestions from the teacher.
MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or
answers the question.
5) When students create data displays themselves,
a) They become less familiar with the structure of different graphs.
b) They are usually more invested and, therefore, interested in the data analysis.
c) It’s an inappropriate use of time to discuss how others might interpret the data.
d) They should only construct them by hand.
SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or
answers the question.
6) One of the earliest forms of displaying ____________kids encounter is bar graphs or tally charts.
TRUE/FALSE. Write “T” if the statement is true and “F” if the statement is false.
7) Students’ ability to analyze data and draw conclusions is often weak.
8) Because construction of a circle graph requires working with percentages, it is an inappropriate task for
younger students.
MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or
answers the question.
9) Which of these options is the best way to display continuous data?
a) Stem-and-leaf plot
b) Circle graph
c) Line graph
d) Venn diagram
SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or
answers the question
10) A ________________ plot is a good data display for showing the relationship between two variables.
MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or
answers the question.
11) Which is NOT a true statement about the measures of central tendency?
a) The median is easier for students to compute and not affected by extreme values like the mean is.
b) The context of a situation determines which measure would be most appropriate.
c) When one hears the word “average,” he or she can assume that the mean is being referred to.
d) The mode is the value in a data set that occurs most frequently.
TRUE/FALSE. Write “T” if the statement is true and “F” if the statement is false.
12) Unfortunately, there isn’t a way to provide a hands–on example of mean for students.
MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or
answers the question.
13) When it comes to variability, students should
a) Always just examine outliers and extremes.
b) Consider how variance can change over the course of time, given a certain context.
c) Not focus on how far the extreme values are from the center.
d) Not be confused by being told about the kinds of variability that occur in nature.
14) Box plots are most suited for displaying
a) The mean of a data set.
b) The mean and mode of a data set.
c) The median of a data set.
d) The median and range of a data set.
ESSAY. Write your answer in the space provided or on a separate sheet of paper.
15) Name two situations that could require data to be displayed. Choose the most appropriate data display
format for each and explain the reasoning for your choice.
16) Provide two examples of questions that would help guide class discussions about data interpretation.
Explain how each question could help develop students’ ability to analyze data.
Chapter 21
