A company that designs websites primarily for minority-owned businesse

Question

A company that designs websites primarily for minority-owned businesses conducted a survey of minority-owned businesses in the United States that do not currently have a website. The survey was designed to help determine what respondents see as the potential benefits of adding a website. The results of that survey are shown in the table.

Potential benefit  
  Latino (459
respondents)  
  African American
(394 respondents)  
  Asian American
(438 respondents)  
  Native American
(279 respondents)  
 
  Expand customer base 
 26% 
 29% 
 25% 
 25% 
 
  Improve communication 
 15% 
 4% 
 4% 
 6% 
 
  Increase customer satisfaction 
 5% 
 17% 
 28% 
 6% 
 
  Increase ratio of profits to costs 
 14% 
 19% 
 17% 
 19% 
 
  Increase tax savings 
 0% 
 1% 
 0% 
 0% 
 
  Preserve market share 
 6% 
 6% 
 4% 
 6% 
 
  Save time 
 4% 
 3% 
 13% 
 2% 
 
  Other 
 3% 
 3% 
 5% 
 4% 
 
  No benefit 
 27% 
 17% 
 22% 
 21% 
 
  Uncertain 
 10% 
 11% 
 13% 
 10%

For each of the following conclusions, select  Supported  if it is supported by the information in the table. Otherwise select  Not supported .

VarunBhardwaj · Answer

I will give it a shot.

Survey asks people about which of the things in the list would be a potential benefit of adding a website.

People can choose one or more options they think will benefit.

Question B:Fewer than 25 % of the respondent who believe a website could help expand their customer base also believe a website could help them maintain their current market share.
I will take one case here:
Latino(459 ppl = X)
Expand customer base 26%
Preserve(Current) Market share 6 %.

People who think expand customer base = 26% of X = 0.26 X
A -> 25 % of the respondent who believe a website could help expand their customer base = 0.25 (0.26 X)= 0.065 X = 6.5 % of X
B -> People of think Preserve Market share = 6 %.

Clearly A is greater than B
You can apply the same to other community and find similar results.

Question C: Only a small proportion of respondents are concerned that they are losing market share.
The potential benefit listed is Preserve market share NOT Losing or Gaining market share.People gave opinion about only preserving market share not gaining or losing it.Information about losing market share is not available.
We only know that 94 % (100 - 6%) people think otherwise that Potential benefit is Gaining, Losing,Cant say etc .But we can find values of individuals.

Hope it helps

JusTLucK04 · Answer

I still dont get how B is supported here..

Edit: I will be a bit more specific..How do we know that these are the same ppl who also believed in expanding the share..

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi JusTLucK04,

The percents in the table are specific enough to help you do a "comparison" instead of a calculation, but if you wanted to see the math, then here it is:

In the first column, we have 459 Latino respondents:

26% think that a website will help to expand the customer base:
26%(459) = about 119

6% think that a website will help maintain/preserve market share:
6%(459) = about 28

The second question in the set asks if the idea that the second number is LESS THAN 25% of the first number.

25%(119) = about 30. Since 28 < 30, this IS a reasonable/supported conclusion.

Now, performing these calculations is NOT really what this question is about (and it's not required either). The "shortcut" is to compare the percentages, since the percentages are both based on the SAME total number of respondents in the survey (and as such, THAT number doesn't really matter to this question).

In the Latino column...is 6% less than 1/4 of 25%.....YES
In the African American column...is 6% less than 1/4 of 29%....YES
In the Asian American column...is 4% less than 1/4 of 25%....YES
In the Native American column...is 6% less than 1/4 of 25%...YES

This is a constant, reasonable conclusion, so the answer to the second question is YES/SUPPORTED.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

jitendra31 · Answer

Dear Rich,

Where in the question it is stated that these 6% are those that also answered 'expand consumer base'. Whereas mathematically your calculations look alright, I was not sure of the logic and hence, the difference.

Hope this explains.

Thanks,
J.I.T
(give kudos if you think I deserve some)

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi jitendra31,

The information that we need to answer the second statement is in 2 of the rows:

1) 'Expand Customer Base' is the 1st row

2) 'Maintain their current market share' is actually written as 'Preserve Market Share' and is the 6th row.

Sometimes IR questions won't be strict with vocabulary and will use synonyms (re: 'maintain' and 'preserve' mean the same thing). Even if you did not know that those two words mean the same thing though, the words "market share" only show up in one row - the 6th row - so even if you were a little unsure about what data to use, the ONLY row that makes any sense would be the 6th one. From here, the rest of the work is more about the comparison of the percents and not about doing the actual long-winded calculation.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

jitendra31 · Answer

Hi Rich,

Read the question b closely. Pay attention to the word "ALSO". Where in the question stem it is mentioned that the two population segments are same. How do you infer that?

I have already stated that your maths is right, but you need to provide us more logic on the complete overlap of two sets. Why the remaining 74% (100%-26%, only for the second column as an example) are not thought of? Why can they not be a part of the 6% population?

Hope this explains.

Thanks,
J.I.T.
(give kudos if you think i deserve some)

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi jitendra31,

If you add up the percents in each of the columns, you'll see that the total in each is GREATER than 100%, which means that some respondents believe that there are multiple benefits to having a website. Even if you had not noticed that though, the description refers to the survey asking respondents what they see as the potential BENEFITS (meaning possibly plural) of having a website (it does NOT state that each survey respondent selected "just one" of the potential benefits).

Just as in CR questions, the details in IR questions matter a great deal.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

keats · Answer

Thanks Rich for the explanation. I really cannot understand one thing -

Yes, the respondents marked just more than one benefit on the list, but how do we know that the 25%people (X) were the ones who also said market share 6% (Y) as the benefit. It is very probable that there can be some people in this 25% that said 'improve communication' as one of the benefits.

If you can answer

keats · Answer

If you can shed light on C part of the question. How is it not supported ?

The people who say 'Preserve Market Share' probably will be the ones who dread that they will lose market share. So, why can't I infer the same ?

Please if you can take me in the right direction ?

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi anewbeginning,

You bring up a really important point - maybe the people who list 'expand the customer base' are the same people who list 'preserve market share', BUT maybe they're not.

The prompt asks if the conclusion (that LESS than 25% of that first group ALSO is in the second group) is supported. EITHER WAY, it is!

Consider the following data:

26% of 459 Latinos listed "expand their customer base" = 119 people
6% of 459 Latinos listed "preserve market share" = 28 people

IF EVERYONE in the second group was also in the first group, then that would be 28/119 = about 23.5% (and that is the MAXIMUM PERCENT that it could be; if it's a smaller percent, then the conclusion is STILL supported). This relationship exists with EVERY group of people polled; thus, the second point IS SUPPORTED.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

thuyduong91vnu · Answer

Hi EMPOWERgmatRichC,

Could you help to explain the final part of the question, as I have the same question as Steinbeck: The pepple who responded 'Preserve Market Share' probably will be the ones who dread that they will lose market share (while the others who did not dread that should respond in another way, e.g 'Increase/Expand Market Share' or something like that), so why can't we infer the same? Please correct me if my understanding is wrong.

Thank for your response

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi thuyduong91vnu,

The 3rd part of the question would probably be missed by a sizable group of Test Takers. To properly deal with that piece of the question, you have to re-read the introduction (above the table) - it describes how survey respondents were commenting on what they see as the POTENTIAL BENEFITS of having a website. This ENTIRE table is based on what respondents see as possible benefits - the benefits have not happened yet and they might not happen even if the respondents did have a website, but it's what they think might be benefits.

The 3rd part asks about the proportion of respondents who are CONCERNED about losing market share. We don't know ANYTHING about "concerns" though - the table and survey were NOT about that. To take it a step further, if you're going to infer that "preserve market share" is the same as "afraid of losing market share", wouldn't you infer the same thing about those who want to expand their customer base(s)? Wouldn't they dread losing market share too? When you combine those too groups, it's not really a "small proportion" of respondents.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

JarvisR · Answer

EMPOWERgmatRichC 
Hi Rich,
Hope you are doing good. 
I agree with your reasoning quoted below but I am still not able to solve Q2.

What I don't understand is how can we be sure that the two mentioned sets overlap. It is possible that the "GREATER" part is adjusted with the overlapping of other sets /captured benefits.
I am sure that I am missing some key points here and will appreciate if you can help me to identify it.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi JarvisR,

I think it would be easiest if you show me the work that you did when dealing with Question #2. Based on your interpretation of what was asked, what data did you pull from the table? What calculation(s) did you perform?

On any given GMAT question (whether it's IR or some other type), it's okay if you're unsure of how to interpret what is asked. However, you're not allowed to do 'nothing' - you should try working through the prompt with your initial interpretation, then work through it (if needed) with any other interpretation that you might have. Sometimes, the process of going through the work provides you with the exact insight that you need to adjust your thinking and correctly answer the question.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

Shrivathsan · Answer

Hi  EMPOWERgmatRichC

I have the same question as  JarvisR .

Preserve Market Share(PMS) : 28 Respondents
Expand Customer Base (ECB): 30 Respondents

How can we assume 28 Respondents of PMS are in those 30 Respondents of ECB ?
Is there anything i am missing ?

keats · Answer

The question  Shrivathsan  have is apparently what most of the people here have problem with. In fact everyone is trying to prove why (2) is supported just because the official answer says that (2) is supported.

Cuco · Answer

Hi all,

Let me give a try to the problematic question (2). I actually had the same doubts while answering regarding overlapping sets. Let's recall what the conclusion said " fewer than 25% of the respondents who believe a website could help expand their customer base also believe a website could help them maintain their current market share "

Are overlapping sets problematic? Well let's see what happens if 100% (max. scenario) of the respondents who believe a website could help them maintain their current market share also responded that they believe a website could help them expand their customer base --> applying % as #EMPOWERgmatRichC previously did, we see that in the max. scenario ( all  respondents that believe a website could help them maintain their current market share also responded that they believe a website could help expand their customer base) is not enough to reach the 25% provided in the conclusion.

Hence, anything under that max. scenario will definitely be a smaller percentage than 25%. Therefore, the information provided in the table is enough to support the conclusion.

Hope the above is clear.

rcaraujo20 · Answer

Adding one sentence to the reasoning above:

Less than 25% means anything between 0 (inclusive) and 25%. Even if noboby from the 6% answered both questions (i. e. 0%), still 'Less than 25% ...' believe in both (X ... 'also' Y ...).

Best,

mimishyu · Answer

To EMPOWERgmatRichC

I have the same problem as JarvisR. and Shrivathsan

Preserve Market Share(PMS) : 28 Respondents
Expand Customer Base (ECB): 30 Respondents

How can we assume 28 Respondents of PMS are in those 30 Respondents of ECB ?
Is there anything i am missing ?

Here’s my question point
If we try to solve/underatand question2 from the opposite side

Less than 25%-if here we assume maybe it’s ‘20%’
Then 459*26%=119
 119*20%=23.8 ,after rounding it's 24
24people are also all included in the set of group which believe can maintain their market share(459*0.06=28)’-this maybe true/established

However, there’s a possibility that all these 24people also belong to a group of people who ‘all’ did not believe can maintain their market share-then question2’s assumption will be denied
I saw somebody said that Official answer is ‘supported’, well, like other students, I’m really confused about this Official answer????

Supported	Not supported
		A majority of the respondents believe adding a website could benefit their businesses.
		Fewer than 25% of the respondents who believe a website could help expand their customer base also believe a website could help them maintain their current market share.
		Only a small proportion of the respondents are concerned that they are losing market share.

A company that designs websites primarily for minority-owned businesse

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Potential benefit	Latino (459 respondents)	African American (394 respondents)	Asian American (438 respondents)	Native American (279 respondents)
Expand customer base	26%	29%	25%	25%
Improve communication	15%	4%	4%	6%
Increase customer satisfaction	5%	17%	28%	6%
Increase ratio of profits to costs	14%	19%	17%	19%
Increase tax savings	0%	1%	0%	0%
Preserve market share	6%	6%	4%	6%
Save time	4%	3%	13%	2%
Other	3%	3%	5%	4%
No benefit	27%	17%	22%	21%
Uncertain	10%	11%	13%	10%

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A company that designs websites primarily for minority-owned businesse

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