Definition
Non-statistical question
A non-statistical question asks for one fact or value without expecting a spread of different data answers.
What it means
Ask whether you expect many different data values. “How many pages are in this copy of the book?” has one fixed answer. “How many pages are in the books on our shelf?” expects different answers, so that question is statistical.
Remember it
One specified case, one answer; a group with expected variation is statistical.
Example
Maya asks, “How many centimetres are in one metre?” The relationship is fixed: 100 centimetres. She does not need to gather a set of varying answers, so the question is non-statistical.
Watch for
The grammar alone does not decide. A yes-or-no question about one object can be non-statistical, while a yes-or-no survey across a class can produce varying data and be statistical.
Common mix-up
A question is not statistical merely because it contains a number; expected variation in the data is the key test.
Exact meaning
A non-statistical question seeks one determined answer and does not call for a set of responses or measurements whose values are expected to vary. It concerns a specified fact or case rather than a distribution produced by a group or repeated observations.