Q."A single figure such as 'the average income of a family is ₹25,000 per month' cannot by itself be called statistics." Do you agree? Justify your answer.

This question tests whether you can apply the 'aggregate of facts' characteristic rather than merely recite it.

Yes, the statement is correct, and the justification comes straight from the characteristics of statistics.

The aggregate-of-facts characteristic. By definition (Secrist), statistics are aggregates of facts placed in relation to each other. A single, isolated figure — even a meaningful one like an average income of ₹25,000 — is not an aggregate; there is nothing to compare it with and nothing it is placed in relation to. Standing alone it is merely an item of information, not statistics.

When it would become statistics. The same figure becomes statistics the moment it is part of a comparable set — for example:

• the average monthly income of families across several districts of Odisha, or
• the average monthly income of a family across several years,

because now the figures form an aggregate that can be compared and related, satisfying both the 'aggregate of facts' and the 'placed in relation to each other' characteristics. …

A common mistake is disagreeing because the figure 'is a number about income' — being numerical is necessary but not sufficient; the missing ingredient is that a …