CCSS.Math.Content.HSS-IC.B
The standard
Make inferences and justify conclusions from sample surveys, experiments, and observational studies
Common Core State Standards for Mathematics · High School — Statistics and Probability
What this standard means
Students need to use data from samples, experiments, and observational studies to make claims about a larger group or about cause and effect. They should know which conclusions are fair, which are too strong, and what role random selection or random assignment plays.
Mastery looks like students explaining a conclusion in plain language and backing it with data, while naming limits of the study design. They often confuse random sampling with random assignment, overclaim causation from observational data, or ignore bias and sample size.
Ways to teach it
- Have students sort 12 study cards into sample survey, experiment, or observational study, then write one valid conclusion for each card.
- Ask students to respond: What can we conclude, and what can we not conclude, from a study linking sleep and test scores?
- Give a one-paragraph study summary and have students mark whether the conclusion is justified, too strong, or biased.
- Use a recent school survey, like lunch preferences, to discuss how sampling method affects decisions the principal might make.
Plan a lesson for CCSS.Math.Content.HSS-IC.B
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Related standards
- CCSS.Math.Content.HSS-IC.B.3
Recognize the purposes of and differences among sample surveys, experiments, and observational studies; explain how randomization relates to each.
- CCSS.Math.Content.7.SP.A
Use random sampling to draw inferences about a population.
- CCSS.Math.Content.7.SP.A.2
Use data from a random sample to draw inferences about a population with an unknown characteristic of interest. Generate multiple samples (or simulated samples)...
- CCSS.Math.Content.7.SP.A.1
Understand that statistics can be used to gain information about a population by examining a sample of the population; generalizations about a population from a...