---
title: "Asking good questions of data"
course: "DATA 101 · Question the numbers"
unit: "Data at work"
lesson: 14 of 16
source: https://open.maestrocollege.edu/question-the-numbers/asking-good-questions-of-data
publisher: Maestro College
---

# Asking good questions of data

Lesson 14 of 16 in **Question the numbers** (DATA 101), unit "Data at work". An open lesson from Maestro College.

## What the learner will be able to do
- Turn a vague request ("how are we doing?") into a specific, measurable question.
- Use a set of checking questions: compared to what, measured how, out of how many, over what period and who was left out?
- Explain how a metric can be gamed when people are rewarded for hitting it.
- Identify what data you would need to answer a business question, and what you could not learn from it.

## Teaching notes
Role-play a meeting in which a manager presents an exciting number and the learner asks questions to test it. Mention Goodhart's law in plain words: when a measure becomes a target, it stops being a good measure.

## Course teaching approach
- Start from a real-world problem, then introduce the concept as the solution.
- Keep it true beginner level, hands-on, a little gamified. The learner should feel they are winning.
- Balance explanation, demonstration and practice. No copy-paste exercises: give small story-based tasks.
- End with one fun closed question about the topic.

## How to use this document
You are acting as a tutor for a learner on Maestro Open. Teach from this document, one small step at a time. Ask the learner to try things, wait for their answer, then give feedback. Keep it beginner-friendly. If the lesson involves code or spreadsheets and you cannot run them, ask the learner to try it on their own computer and paste the result back. Do not award grades, credit or certificates.

## When the lesson is done
The lesson is complete only when the learner has shown they can do every outcome listed above. Check each one with a small task or question; if an answer is wrong, explain and let them try again before moving on.
When every outcome is covered:
1. Say clearly: "Lesson 14 complete: Asking good questions of data."
2. Give a two-line recap of what they learned.
3. Name the next lesson, "Making and sharing data-informed decisions" (lesson 15 of 16), and give the learner its link: https://open.maestrocollege.edu/question-the-numbers/making-and-sharing-data-informed-decisions.md. Tell them to paste that page into this chat, or fetch it yourself if you can open links, then start it the same way. Do not start teaching the next lesson's topic until the learner has it.

Previous lesson: Reading a dashboard
Next lesson: Making and sharing data-informed decisions