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# In a survey of students, each student selected from a list

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VP
Joined: 04 May 2006
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Schools: CBS, Kellogg
In a survey of students, each student selected from a list  [#permalink]

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Updated on: 24 Jul 2014, 12:34
1
24
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Difficulty:

15% (low)

Question Stats:

74% (01:09) correct 26% (01:36) wrong based on 296 sessions

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In a survey of students, each student selected from a list of 12 songs the 2 songs that the student liked best. If each song was selected 4 times, how many students were surveyed?

(A) 96
(B) 48
(C) 32
(D) 24
(E) 18

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Originally posted by sondenso on 16 Jun 2008, 21:23.
Last edited by Bunuel on 24 Jul 2014, 12:34, edited 1 time in total.
Renamed the topic, edited the question, added the OA and moved to PS forum.
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Joined: 02 Sep 2009
Posts: 58442
Re: In a survey of students, each student selected from a list  [#permalink]

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24 Jul 2014, 12:38
7
12
sondenso wrote:
In a survey of students, each student selected from a list of 12 songs the 2 songs that the student liked best. If each song was selected 4 times, how many students were surveyed?

(A) 96
(B) 48
(C) 32
(D) 24
(E) 18

Each out of 12 songs was selected 4 times --> the total number of selections = 12*4 = 48.
Each student selected 2 songs --> the total number of students = 48/2 = 24.

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Re: In a survey of students, each student selected from a list  [#permalink]

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16 Jun 2008, 21:37
6
6
Its an easy D. if each song was selected 4 times, 48 selections were made (because there are 12 songs). Each student picked 2 songs, hence the number of students = 48/2 = 24.

sondenso wrote:
In a survey of students, each student selected from a list of 12 songs the 2 songs that the student liked best. If each song was selected 4 times, how many students were surveyed?

(A) 96
(B) 48
(C) 32
(D) 24
(E) 18
##### General Discussion
Manager
Joined: 22 May 2007
Posts: 186
Re: In a survey of students, each student selected from a list  [#permalink]

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16 Jun 2008, 21:29
1
I counted using pairs. Each pair 4 times. I ended up with 24. IS 24 correct?
Director
Joined: 23 Sep 2007
Posts: 617
Re: In a survey of students, each student selected from a list  [#permalink]

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Updated on: 16 Jun 2008, 21:38
I have 48, but I don't understand the logic of the question.

I don't think this is a gmatprep question either.

48 should be the minimum students surveyed, but the maximum students surveyed is unknown, since there is no guarantee that 4 people will pick a song as their favorite, even if you survey 100000000000000000 people.

Originally posted by gmatnub on 16 Jun 2008, 21:32.
Last edited by gmatnub on 16 Jun 2008, 21:38, edited 1 time in total.
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Joined: 24 Apr 2008
Posts: 129
Re: In a survey of students, each student selected from a list  [#permalink]

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17 Jun 2008, 02:19
yes it is confusing but not tough really:

considering 4 times that each song is repeated - the total number of songs selected is 48 but then each student selects 2 songs - thus the total number of students here must be 24 to the least.

The question stem is not right - it should day the least number of students required to get 4 as the number of times each song is selected!
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Joined: 12 Jun 2008
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Re: In a survey of students, each student selected from a list  [#permalink]

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17 Jun 2008, 02:26
3
2
iamcartic wrote:
yes it is confusing but not tough really:

considering 4 times that each song is repeated - the total number of songs selected is 48 but then each student selects 2 songs - thus the total number of students here must be 24 to the least.

The question stem is not right - it should day the least number of students required to get 4 as the number of times each song is selected!

It IS right.

It says that each song was selected 4 times. Not 5 or 6 or more.

Therefore exactly 4*12 = 48 choices have been made.

And since each student makes 2 choices, it means that 48/2 = 24 students were surveyed.
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Joined: 28 Dec 2004
Posts: 2687
Location: New York City
Schools: Wharton'11 HBS'12
Re: In a survey of students, each student selected from a list  [#permalink]

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17 Jun 2008, 06:31
key word here is ..EACH SONG is chosen 4 times..

this means..that 4*12 =48 possibile students..however we are then told that each student chooses 2 songs..

so minimum number of students is 24..
Senior Manager
Joined: 01 Jan 2008
Posts: 466
Re: In a survey of students, each student selected from a list  [#permalink]

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17 Jun 2008, 06:36
1
fresinha12 wrote:
key word here is ..EACH SONG is chosen 4 times..

this means..that 4*12 =48 possibile students..however we are then told that each student chooses 2 songs..

so minimum number of students is 24..

and maximum number of students is 24 because each student chooses 2 songs.
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Joined: 23 Sep 2007
Posts: 617
Re: In a survey of students, each student selected from a list  [#permalink]

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17 Jun 2008, 09:23
Oski wrote:
iamcartic wrote:
yes it is confusing but not tough really:

considering 4 times that each song is repeated - the total number of songs selected is 48 but then each student selects 2 songs - thus the total number of students here must be 24 to the least.

The question stem is not right - it should day the least number of students required to get 4 as the number of times each song is selected!

It IS right.

It says that each song was selected 4 times. Not 5 or 6 or more.

Therefore exactly 4*12 = 48 choices have been made.

And since each student makes 2 choices, it means that 48/2 = 24 students were surveyed.

If you are to "survey" people and each person pick 2 songs from a list of 12 songs. How do you ensure that each song is picked 4 times? The only way for that to happen is that you remove the songs from the list when they had been picked 4 times. But if that is the rule, the last person "surveyed" will be ask to pick 2 songs from a list of 2 songs. How is that a survey? What if the person does not like either songs?
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Joined: 30 Apr 2008
Posts: 1631
Location: Oklahoma City
Schools: Hard Knocks
Re: In a survey of students, each student selected from a list  [#permalink]

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17 Jun 2008, 09:31
gmatnub wrote:
Oski wrote:
iamcartic wrote:
yes it is confusing but not tough really:

considering 4 times that each song is repeated - the total number of songs selected is 48 but then each student selects 2 songs - thus the total number of students here must be 24 to the least.

The question stem is not right - it should day the least number of students required to get 4 as the number of times each song is selected!

It IS right.

It says that each song was selected 4 times. Not 5 or 6 or more.

Therefore exactly 4*12 = 48 choices have been made.

And since each student makes 2 choices, it means that 48/2 = 24 students were surveyed.

If you are to "survey" people and each person pick 2 songs from a list of 12 songs. How do you ensure that each song is picked 4 times? The only way for that to happen is that you remove the songs from the list when they had been picked 4 times. But if that is the rule, the last person "surveyed" will be ask to pick 2 songs from a list of 2 songs. How is that a survey? What if the person does not like either songs?

It's not a matter of removing any songs. What the authors mean is essentially that at the end of the survey, it so happend that each song was picked exactly 4 times. Unrealistic, but since when was reality imposed on GMAT test authors?
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**I'm pretty sure I'm right, but then again, I'm just a guy with his head up his a$$. GMAT Club Premium Membership - big benefits and savings Director Joined: 23 Sep 2007 Posts: 617 Re: In a survey of students, each student selected from a list [#permalink] ### Show Tags 17 Jun 2008, 09:35 jallenmorris wrote: It's not a matter of removing any songs. What the authors mean is essentially that at the end of the survey, it so happend that each song was picked exactly 4 times. Unrealistic, but since when was reality imposed on GMAT test authors? Yes, that is the point, you can "survey" 10000000000000000000000000 people and there is no guarantee that 1 song will be picked 4 times. If one song sucks so bad, no one will pick it. SVP Joined: 30 Apr 2008 Posts: 1631 Location: Oklahoma City Schools: Hard Knocks Re: In a survey of students, each student selected from a list [#permalink] ### Show Tags 17 Jun 2008, 09:42 1 On the GMAT you just have to be able to accept that when the question reads "students were surveyed and each song was selected 4 times" that however many students there were, the survey resulted in every song being selected 4 times total. If you surveyed 100,000,000 students, sure you could get more than 4 songs, but you have to accept as fact the statements made in the question stems. We could attack this survey on all types of angles. Were the students allowed to abstain if they hated all 12 songs? If they must vote, were they instructed to pick the 2 songs they disliked the least? Were the students responses a result of leading questions? Was there any type on control group with which to compare these results in order to determine if any bias exists among those surveyed? We can think of all types of things that would be relevant to a survey, but in the end, we have to live in the GMAT world and only respond to what information is given and in the method it is provided. Here, after the survey is complete, each song was selected 4 times. Thus, we know that 12 songs * 4 selections = 48 total selections / number of selections allowed per student = 24 students participated in the survey. _________________ ------------------------------------ J Allen Morris **I'm pretty sure I'm right, but then again, I'm just a guy with his head up his a$$.

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Re: In a survey of students, each student selected from a list  [#permalink]

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17 Jun 2008, 10:42
gmatnub wrote:
If you are to "survey" people and each person pick 2 songs from a list of 12 songs. How do you ensure that each song is picked 4 times? The only way for that to happen is that you remove the songs from the list when they had been picked 4 times. But if that is the rule, the last person "surveyed" will be ask to pick 2 songs from a list of 2 songs. How is that a survey? What if the person does not like either songs?

I don't ensure anything.

Each song WAS selected 4 times: this is the original statement of the question. To answer this question, I have to take it granted. Even if you think the event is unlikely, there is a chance it could happen and GMAT asks us to reason under that chance.

And no: the only way for that is that there are 24 students that took the survey. And each of the 12 songs was on the preferred list of 4 students (not more, not less).
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Joined: 27 Apr 2014
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Re: In a survey of students, each student selected from a list  [#permalink]

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24 Jul 2014, 12:22
5
Tricky -

here's an easy logic -

12 songs - 6 students - each song selected once
12 songs - 12 students - each song selected twice
12 songs - 18 students - each song selected thrice
12 songs - 24 students - each song selected 4 times
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Re: In a survey of students, each student selected from a list  [#permalink]

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16 Feb 2018, 10:46
sondenso wrote:
In a survey of students, each student selected from a list of 12 songs the 2 songs that the student liked best. If each song was selected 4 times, how many students were surveyed?

(A) 96
(B) 48
(C) 32
(D) 24
(E) 18

Since each of the 12 songs was selected 4 times, thus there were a total of 12 x 4 = 48 song selections. Since each student had 2 song selections, there must be 48/2 = 24 students.

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In a survey of students, each student selected from a list  [#permalink]

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24 Sep 2019, 09:43
1
Hi

I solved the question using the below approach.

There are 12 songs and each student had to choose two songs.
The number of combinations of two songs is $$12 C_{2}$$ = $$(12!)/(10! * 2!)$$ = 66

In these 66 combinations, each song appears 11 times.
It is given that each song is chosen 4 times. Therefore, the number of combinations with each song repeating 4 times is $$(66*4)/11$$ = 24

The above number of combination of songs represents the number of students participated in the survey. Hence, 24 students participated in the survey.

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Re: In a survey of students, each student selected from a list  [#permalink]

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08 Oct 2019, 08:50
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Re: In a survey of students, each student selected from a list   [#permalink] 08 Oct 2019, 08:50
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