Final answer:
A statistical question involving a categorical variable could ask about a favorite ice cream flavor, while one involving a quantitative variable could ask about the number of books read in a year. The provided question relates to a quantitative variable.
Step-by-step explanation:
Regarding statistical variables and how to use them in statistical questions:
Part a: Categorical Variable
A statistical question using a categorical variable could be: "What is the most popular ice cream flavor among high school students in your town?" Here, the categorical variable is the flavor of ice cream, and the question aims to categorize responses into different flavor types.
Part b: Quantitative Variable
A statistical question using a quantitative variable could be: "How many books does an average high school student read in a year?" In this case, the quantitative variable is the number of books, which can be counted and expressed numerically.
As for the question you provided, "How many words do you actively use on average?" – this prompts for data that would be a quantitative variable, since the response involves counting the number of words.