Cambridge questions are written in precise mathematical English. If you know exactly what product, difference, justify and estimate ask you to do, you will not lose marks answering the wrong question.
| Term | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| mode | The value that occurs most often. | The mode of 3, 7, 7, 2 is 7. |
| median | The middle value when the data is in order. | The median of 2, 3, 5, 7, 9 is 5. |
| mean | The total divided by how many values there are. | The mean of 4, 6, 8 is 6. |
| range | The largest value minus the smallest. | 9 − 2 = 7. |
| average | A single value that stands for a whole set. | Mode, median and mean are all averages. |
| spread | How far apart the values are. | Measured by the range. |
| outlier | A value far away from all the others. | The 950 in 180, 200, 210, 950. |
| consistent | Varying little; having a small range. | A range of 2 rather than 20. |
| frequency | How many times a value occurs. | The column in a table. |
| bar chart | A chart whose bar heights show frequencies. | One bar for each day. |
| line graph | Points joined in order, for data that changes over time. | Temperature through the day. |
| pie chart | A circle divided into sectors showing shares of a whole. | The sectors total 360°. |
| sector | One slice of a pie chart. | A 90° sector is a quarter. |
| trend | The general direction data is moving in. | Sales rising each year. |
| sample | The part of a population actually surveyed. | 28 learners out of 900. |
| bias | A sample chosen in a way that makes it unrepresentative. | Asking only gym members about exercise. |
| population | Everyone or everything you want to know about. | The whole school. |
| variation | The reasons readings differ from one another. | Weather, time of day, who was asked. |