Which of the following is a statistic?

• A. A numerical fact
• B. The data collected and what it means
• C. A field of study
• D. A globe

Answer: (A)

A statistic is a numerical fact derived from data that describes a property of a sample. It’s a single number computed to summarize something about the data you collected, like the average score of a class or the median income in a survey. That’s why a numerical fact fits best here—it’s a specific computed value, not the raw data itself, not the field of study, and not a physical object like a globe. The data collected and what it means refers to the actual numbers and their interpretation, which isn’t a single statistic. A field of study is the discipline itself, and a globe is unrelated. So the numerical fact best captures what a statistic is.