Key takeaway: Statistics terms describe how data is collected, displayed and summarized, from dot plots and the median to standard deviation, z-scores, p-values and confidence intervals.
Statistics appears in every grade from sixth grade to AP Statistics, and its words get more precise each year. A sixth grader finds a median; an AP student explains a sampling distribution. These statistics terms are listed in that order.
Each page has a data display or a curve drawn to scale and a problem with a realistic data set.
50 terms on this page, each with a definition, a figure and a worked example.
Statistics Terms: the full list
Grade 6
- Box Plot 6.SP.B.4
- Dot Plot 6.SP.B.4
- Frequency Table 6.SP.B.4
- Histogram 6.SP.B.4
- Interquartile Range (IQR) 6.SP.B.5c
- Mean Absolute Deviation (MAD) 6.SP.B.5c
- Mean, Median and Mode 6.SP.A.3
- Outlier 6.SP.B.5d
- Quartiles 6.SP.B.5c
- Range (Statistics) 6.SP.B.5c
- Statistical Question 6.SP.A.1
Grade 7
- Population (Statistics) 7.SP.A.1
- Random Sample 7.SP.A.1
Grade 8
- Line of Best Fit 8.SP.A.2
- Relative Frequency 8.SP.A.4
- Scatter Plot 8.SP.A.1
- Two-Way Table 8.SP.A.4
Grade 9 – Algebra 1
- Correlation Coefficient S-ID.C.8
- Correlation vs. Causation S-ID.C.9
- Linear Regression S-ID.B.6a
- Residual S-ID.B.6b
- Standard Deviation S-ID.A.2
Grade 11 – Algebra 2
- Empirical Rule (68-95-99.7) S-ID.A.4
- Margin of Error S-IC.B.4
- Normal Distribution S-ID.A.4
- Z-Score S-ID.A.4
Grade 12 – AP Statistics
- Categorical and Quantitative Variables AP Statistics Unit 1
- Central Limit Theorem AP Statistics Unit 2
- Chi-Square Test AP Statistics Unit 3
- Coefficient of Determination (r²) AP Statistics Unit 5
- Confidence Interval AP Statistics Unit 3
- Confounding Variable AP Statistics Unit 1
- Degrees of Freedom AP Statistics Unit 4
- Experiment vs. Observational Study AP Statistics Unit 1
- Five-Number Summary AP Statistics Unit 1
- Hypothesis Testing AP Statistics Unit 3
- Least-Squares Regression Line AP Statistics Unit 5
- Null and Alternative Hypotheses AP Statistics Unit 3
- P-Value AP Statistics Unit 3
- Percentile AP Statistics Unit 1
- Sampling Bias AP Statistics Unit 1
- Sampling Distribution AP Statistics Unit 2
- Significance Level (Alpha) AP Statistics Unit 3
- Simple Random Sample AP Statistics Unit 1
- Skewed Distribution AP Statistics Unit 1
- Standard Error AP Statistics Unit 2
- Stratified Random Sampling AP Statistics Unit 1
- t-Distribution AP Statistics Unit 4
- t-Test AP Statistics Unit 4
- Type I and Type II Errors AP Statistics Unit 3