Statistics: Discussion Question

There are many ways to represent something statistically, or test an idea (hypothesis) statistically. The descriptive statistics described in this week’s lesson are one way. However, statistics and what they represent are not so straightforward. And sometimes the concepts are difficult to explain. I have a 13-year-old and a 15-year-old and the concepts of average and standard deviation are actually difficult to explain to them. What does “on average” mean in this sentence? “On average, you should get 10 hours of sleep per night”. (look it up, that’s right in the sweet spot for teens).

Do statistics represent the truth about something? If you think they are the truth, why? If not, why not and what do they represent?