Missed opportunities in research on the teaching and learning of data and chance

Reflecting on a body of research work can sometimes lead to the recognition of areas of opportunity for research that have gone largely unnoticed. In this paper we consider three such opportunities in the area of research on the teaching and learnig of probability and statistics: i) Following up on students' initial thinking to watch for future transitions; ii) Investigating students' thinking on variability; and iii) Posing research questions that begin with what students can do rather than pointing out what they cannot do. Situations from research tasks, past and future, are used as starting points for the discussion.