Statistical investigation types

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Learning objective overview

Master Teaching Guide coverage for this objective.

Current NZC (2007)

New NZC (2026)

Statistical Investigations — summary, comparison, and relationship investigation types
NZ Curriculum achievement objective S4-1 — statistical enquiry cycle, including time-series data

Name and describe each of the four investigation types: summary, comparison, relationship, and time-series.
Classify a given statistical question or scenario by its investigation type, and justify the classification.
Match each investigation type to the graph or display best suited to it (dot plot or bar graph for summary, side-by-side dot plots or box-and-whisker plots for comparison, scatter plot for relationship, time-series line graph for time-series).
Write a valid investigative question of a specified type for a given context.
Recognise that a real investigation can combine more than one type (e.g. tracking two groups over time combines time-series and comparison), and explain how this affects the display chosen.