| Word | Meaning |
| Statistics | The branch of mathematics that deals with the collection, analysis, interpretation and presentation of data |
| Data | Numbers or facts gathered for a purpose |
| Observation | Each single value in a set of data |
| Central tendency | The centre or average position of data, measured by the mean, median or mode |
| Distribution | The way the values of data are laid out |
| Variation | How much the values differ; it can be low, moderate or high |
| Dispersion | How much observations differ from one another or from the central value |
| Consistent | Staying close together, changing very little |
| Variable | Changing a lot from one value to the next |
| Reliability | How far a set of data can be trusted to behave the same way again |
| Centre | The middle or typical value of the data |
| Spread | How widely the data are scattered around the centre |