(Objective)

The purpose of this study is to analyze whether the questions related to the concept of variability that are presented in secondary school textbooks in Chile, contribute to the development of statistics literacy and thinking among students in the school system.

(Methodology)

To achieve this objective, a qualitative approach was used based on a content analysis of the secondary education textbooks published in the years 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2021. Units of analysis were selected using non-probabilistic subjective sampling.

(Results)

Among the most relevant findings, it was determined that a large part of the questions in the textbooks consulted made use of the interrogative pronouns ''what''and ''which.''In these cases, the questions were associated with simple tasks aimed essentially at the calculation of descriptive summaries of variability without the use of technological tools. On the other hand, questions related to more complex tasks such as reading, analyzing and making decisions, were poorly represented in the textbooks analyzed. The concept of variability in the textbooks consulted is fundamentally related to the notion of dispersion, an approach that has been questioned by English-speaking researchers.

(Conclusions)

In brief, based on the results obtained it is recommended that teachers in the school system guide, reformulate and design questions related to the concept of variability based in more complex activities such as analysis, argumentation and evaluation to better assist students in developing statistical literacy and thinking.

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