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Spotting misleading statistics and graphs

9th grade (Year 10 in England) · 16 questions · Common Core: RI.9-10.7, RI.9-10.8 · England: GCSE English Language Paper 2, SAT Reading and Writing (Command of Evidence: Quantitative), GCSE Maths (statistics)

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Date

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Should Secondary Schools Try a Four-Day Week?

Imagine a school week that ends on Thursday afternoon. For students in a growing number of schools around the world, this is no longer a fantasy. I believe secondary schools should at least trial a four-day week. The strongest reason is wellbeing. Many teenagers report feeling exhausted by the end of the week, and a longer weekend could give them time to rest, exercise and pursue interests that school leaves no room for. Supporters also point to attendance. In one regional pilot involving twelve schools, attendance rose by three percentage points after the change. That may sound small, but across a year it adds up to thousands of extra lessons attended. Critics argue that working parents would struggle with childcare on the fifth day. This is a serious concern. However, schools could offer an optional supervised study day, run by staff and volunteers, so that no family is left without support. Others worry that students will learn less. Yet schools in the pilot lengthened each remaining day by forty minutes, so total teaching time hardly changed. A trial costs little and teaches us a lot. If it fails, we can change back. If it works, students will thank us for it.

  1. Question 1

    Read "Should Secondary Schools Try a Four-Day Week?". Is the attendance evidence relevant and sufficient on its own to prove four-day weeks work everywhere?

    • A. neither relevant nor sufficient, because pilots are always wrong
    • B. irrelevant, because attendance has nothing to do with school
    • C. completely sufficient, because twelve is a large number
    • D. relevant, but one pilot in twelve schools is not enough to prove it works everywhere

  1. Question 2

    Read the question and choose. A company shows only the three months when its sales rose and leaves out the nine months when they fell. What is this called?

    • A. a control group
    • B. cherry-picking data
    • C. a random sample
    • D. a fair summary

  2. Question 3

    Is the proposed answer correct? "The average salary at our company is £60,000!" But the boss earns £1 million and most staff earn £25,000. What's misleading? → one huge value pulls the mean up, so it doesn't show a typical salary

    • A. yes, it is correct
    • B. no, it is not correct

Should Secondary Schools Try a Four-Day Week?

Imagine a school week that ends on Thursday afternoon. For students in a growing number of schools around the world, this is no longer a fantasy. I believe secondary schools should at least trial a four-day week. The strongest reason is wellbeing. Many teenagers report feeling exhausted by the end of the week, and a longer weekend could give them time to rest, exercise and pursue interests that school leaves no room for. Supporters also point to attendance. In one regional pilot involving twelve schools, attendance rose by three percentage points after the change. That may sound small, but across a year it adds up to thousands of extra lessons attended. Critics argue that working parents would struggle with childcare on the fifth day. This is a serious concern. However, schools could offer an optional supervised study day, run by staff and volunteers, so that no family is left without support. Others worry that students will learn less. Yet schools in the pilot lengthened each remaining day by forty minutes, so total teaching time hardly changed. A trial costs little and teaches us a lot. If it fails, we can change back. If it works, students will thank us for it.

  1. Question 4

    Read "Should Secondary Schools Try a Four-Day Week?". Is the attendance evidence relevant and sufficient on its own to prove four-day weeks work everywhere?

    • A. relevant, but one pilot in twelve schools is not enough to prove it works everywhere
    • B. neither relevant nor sufficient, because pilots are always wrong
    • C. completely sufficient, because twelve is a large number
    • D. irrelevant, because attendance has nothing to do with school

  1. Question 5

    Read the question and choose. "9 out of 10 users loved our app!" The survey asked 10 people. What's the main problem?

    • A. apps can't be surveyed
    • B. 9 out of 10 is a bad score
    • C. surveys are always biased
    • D. the sample is far too small to generalise

  2. Question 6

    Is the proposed answer correct? "Towns with more ice-cream shops have more sunburn cases. So ice cream causes sunburn!" What's wrong? → both are linked to hot, sunny weather; correlation doesn't prove cause

    • A. yes, it is correct
    • B. no, it is not correct

Should Secondary Schools Try a Four-Day Week?

Imagine a school week that ends on Thursday afternoon. For students in a growing number of schools around the world, this is no longer a fantasy. I believe secondary schools should at least trial a four-day week. The strongest reason is wellbeing. Many teenagers report feeling exhausted by the end of the week, and a longer weekend could give them time to rest, exercise and pursue interests that school leaves no room for. Supporters also point to attendance. In one regional pilot involving twelve schools, attendance rose by three percentage points after the change. That may sound small, but across a year it adds up to thousands of extra lessons attended. Critics argue that working parents would struggle with childcare on the fifth day. This is a serious concern. However, schools could offer an optional supervised study day, run by staff and volunteers, so that no family is left without support. Others worry that students will learn less. Yet schools in the pilot lengthened each remaining day by forty minutes, so total teaching time hardly changed. A trial costs little and teaches us a lot. If it fails, we can change back. If it works, students will thank us for it.

  1. Question 7

    Read "Should Secondary Schools Try a Four-Day Week?". Is the attendance evidence relevant and sufficient on its own to prove four-day weeks work everywhere?

    • A. completely sufficient, because twelve is a large number
    • B. neither relevant nor sufficient, because pilots are always wrong
    • C. relevant, but one pilot in twelve schools is not enough to prove it works everywhere
    • D. irrelevant, because attendance has nothing to do with school

  1. Question 8

    Read the question and choose. "Since the new road opened, house prices have risen 10%." Why can't we say the road caused it?

    • A. 10% is a small number
    • B. house prices can't rise
    • C. roads never affect prices
    • D. prices may have risen everywhere for other reasons

  2. Question 9

    Is the proposed answer correct? "Towns with more ice-cream shops have more sunburn cases. So ice cream causes sunburn!" What's wrong? → there are too many shops

    • A. yes, it is correct
    • B. no, it is not correct

Should Secondary Schools Try a Four-Day Week?

Imagine a school week that ends on Thursday afternoon. For students in a growing number of schools around the world, this is no longer a fantasy. I believe secondary schools should at least trial a four-day week. The strongest reason is wellbeing. Many teenagers report feeling exhausted by the end of the week, and a longer weekend could give them time to rest, exercise and pursue interests that school leaves no room for. Supporters also point to attendance. In one regional pilot involving twelve schools, attendance rose by three percentage points after the change. That may sound small, but across a year it adds up to thousands of extra lessons attended. Critics argue that working parents would struggle with childcare on the fifth day. This is a serious concern. However, schools could offer an optional supervised study day, run by staff and volunteers, so that no family is left without support. Others worry that students will learn less. Yet schools in the pilot lengthened each remaining day by forty minutes, so total teaching time hardly changed. A trial costs little and teaches us a lot. If it fails, we can change back. If it works, students will thank us for it.

  1. Question 10

    Read "Should Secondary Schools Try a Four-Day Week?". Is the attendance evidence relevant and sufficient on its own to prove four-day weeks work everywhere?

    • A. neither relevant nor sufficient, because pilots are always wrong
    • B. relevant, but one pilot in twelve schools is not enough to prove it works everywhere
    • C. irrelevant, because attendance has nothing to do with school
    • D. completely sufficient, because twelve is a large number

  1. Question 11

    Read the question and choose. "Since the new road opened, house prices have risen 10%." Why can't we say the road caused it?

    • A. prices may have risen everywhere for other reasons
    • B. 10% is a small number
    • C. roads never affect prices
    • D. house prices can't rise

  2. Question 12

    Is the proposed answer correct? "Crime fell by 50%!" It went from 2 incidents to 1 in a small village. What's the issue? → a big percentage can hide a tiny real change

    • A. yes, it is correct
    • B. no, it is not correct

Should Secondary Schools Try a Four-Day Week?

Imagine a school week that ends on Thursday afternoon. For students in a growing number of schools around the world, this is no longer a fantasy. I believe secondary schools should at least trial a four-day week. The strongest reason is wellbeing. Many teenagers report feeling exhausted by the end of the week, and a longer weekend could give them time to rest, exercise and pursue interests that school leaves no room for. Supporters also point to attendance. In one regional pilot involving twelve schools, attendance rose by three percentage points after the change. That may sound small, but across a year it adds up to thousands of extra lessons attended. Critics argue that working parents would struggle with childcare on the fifth day. This is a serious concern. However, schools could offer an optional supervised study day, run by staff and volunteers, so that no family is left without support. Others worry that students will learn less. Yet schools in the pilot lengthened each remaining day by forty minutes, so total teaching time hardly changed. A trial costs little and teaches us a lot. If it fails, we can change back. If it works, students will thank us for it.

  1. Question 13

    Read "Should Secondary Schools Try a Four-Day Week?". Is the attendance evidence relevant and sufficient on its own to prove four-day weeks work everywhere?

    • A. neither relevant nor sufficient, because pilots are always wrong
    • B. irrelevant, because attendance has nothing to do with school
    • C. completely sufficient, because twelve is a large number
    • D. relevant, but one pilot in twelve schools is not enough to prove it works everywhere

  1. Question 14

    Read the question and choose. An online poll on a cycling website finds 85% of people want more bike lanes. Why should we be careful?

    • A. 85% is too high to be real
    • B. bike lanes are popular everywhere
    • C. online polls are illegal
    • D. the people answering are not representative of everyone

  2. Question 15

    Is the proposed answer correct? "The average salary at our company is £60,000!" But the boss earns £1 million and most staff earn £25,000. What's misleading? → one huge value pulls the mean up, so it doesn't show a typical salary

    • A. yes, it is correct
    • B. no, it is not correct

Should Secondary Schools Try a Four-Day Week?

Imagine a school week that ends on Thursday afternoon. For students in a growing number of schools around the world, this is no longer a fantasy. I believe secondary schools should at least trial a four-day week. The strongest reason is wellbeing. Many teenagers report feeling exhausted by the end of the week, and a longer weekend could give them time to rest, exercise and pursue interests that school leaves no room for. Supporters also point to attendance. In one regional pilot involving twelve schools, attendance rose by three percentage points after the change. That may sound small, but across a year it adds up to thousands of extra lessons attended. Critics argue that working parents would struggle with childcare on the fifth day. This is a serious concern. However, schools could offer an optional supervised study day, run by staff and volunteers, so that no family is left without support. Others worry that students will learn less. Yet schools in the pilot lengthened each remaining day by forty minutes, so total teaching time hardly changed. A trial costs little and teaches us a lot. If it fails, we can change back. If it works, students will thank us for it.

  1. Question 16

    Read "Should Secondary Schools Try a Four-Day Week?". Is the attendance evidence relevant and sufficient on its own to prove four-day weeks work everywhere?

    • A. neither relevant nor sufficient, because pilots are always wrong
    • B. completely sufficient, because twelve is a large number
    • C. irrelevant, because attendance has nothing to do with school
    • D. relevant, but one pilot in twelve schools is not enough to prove it works everywhere

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  1. relevant, but one pilot in twelve schools is not enough to prove it works everywhere
  2. cherry-picking data
  3. yes, it is correct
  4. relevant, but one pilot in twelve schools is not enough to prove it works everywhere
  5. the sample is far too small to generalise
  6. yes, it is correct
  7. relevant, but one pilot in twelve schools is not enough to prove it works everywhere
  8. prices may have risen everywhere for other reasons
  9. no, it is not correct
  10. relevant, but one pilot in twelve schools is not enough to prove it works everywhere
  11. prices may have risen everywhere for other reasons
  12. yes, it is correct
  13. relevant, but one pilot in twelve schools is not enough to prove it works everywhere
  14. the people answering are not representative of everyone
  15. yes, it is correct
  16. relevant, but one pilot in twelve schools is not enough to prove it works everywhere