Asking a Question That Is Worth Collecting Answers About

Look for this idea outside of your lessons. Doctors, farmers, and city planners all begin with a countable question before they gather any numbers. This is worth learning because a countable question is what makes the whole count worth doing.

Watch for it today, and when you spot it, tell someone what you noticed and how you knew. Ask yourself where else the same idea might be hiding, then go and look.

Let us think about this slowly. Good data starts with a good question. What is your favorite fruit is a fine question, because the answers can be sorted and counted. What is the meaning of life is a wonderful question, but you cannot tally it.

A countable question has clear choices and a limited number of them. Write your question, list the choices, then ask people and record each answer with a tally mark.

Try asking your question to more people than you expected to. Five answers can look like a pattern that ten answers would erase. More information usually makes a picture more trustworthy. Show your work to someone and explain it in your own words.