SAT Math · One-variable data: distributions and measures of center and spread · medium
Class A has a mean test score of 78 with a standard deviation of 5. Class B has a mean test score of 78 with a standard deviation of 12.…
Class A has a mean test score of 78 with a standard deviation of 5. Class B has a mean test score of 78 with a standard deviation of 12. Which statement is best supported by this data?
Answer and explanation
Answer: A: Class B's scores are more spread out than Class A's scores.
The mean tells us the typical score, and the standard deviation tells us how spread out the scores are. Both classes have the same mean, 78, but Class B has a standard deviation of 12 compared with 5 for Class A, so Class B's scores are more spread out, choice A. Choice B is false because the means are equal. Choice C is unsupported: equal means and large spreads mean the two classes' scores overlap heavily. Choice D is false because the distributions have different spreads even though the centers match.
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