The graph below shows the percent change from 2004 to 2014 in the numb

Question

The graph below shows the percent change from 2004 to 2014 in the number of men and women aged 25 or over who have completed selected levels of education. https://gmatclub.com/forum/download/file.php?mode=view&id=60445 Based on the graph, please answer the questions that follow. 1. Based on the graph, determine whether the following conclusions can be logically drawn. 1.jpg

Catman · Answer

in the graph we only have the percentage change in the number of men and women who have completed select level of educations.
Points to keep in mind
a. No data on the population figures of 2004 and 2014 has given
b. Absolute increase in number cannot be determined based.

1. In 2014, the total population and total number of women is not given, only increase of 50% in advanced degree from 2004 is given. Hence we can't determine that more than 50% of women aged 25 or over has an advanced degree.

Out of 
Assume both men and women getting advanced degree in 2004 are 100 each.
than in 2014 we have 124 and 153 (rounding off to next integer) men and women getting advanced degree in 2014 respectively.

2. The number of people with less than a high school diploma decreased from 2004 to 2014.As there is decrease in both male and female -9% and -14% respectively. Hence the number of people with less than a high school diploma decreased from 2004 to 2014.

3. Although there is more increase in people getting advanced degree than people getting bachelor degree.
Assume both men and women getting bachelor degree in 2004 are 200 each.
than in 2014 we have 240 and 260 (rounding off to next integer) in 2014 men and women getting advanced degree in 2014 respectively.

Assume both men and women getting advanced degree in 2004 are 100 each.
than in 2014 we have 124 and 153 (rounding off to next integer) men and women getting advanced degree in 2014 respectively.

Thus less people are getting an advanced degree in 2014 as compared to people getting bachelor degree in 2004.
Hence can't be determined as it depends on the number of people getting bachelor degree and advanced degree in 2004.

RishabhBhasin · Answer

In the 2 part, we don't know if the population of men and women has increased or not from 2004-2014. S

Suppose, the population increased such that even after a 9 and 14.6 percent drop, the overall number of men and women is greater than in 2004, then OA of part 2 is not valid.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

RishabhBhasin · Answer

I have a confusion regarding the 2 option of the question.

Suppose, the population increased such that even after a 9 and 14.6 percent drop, the overall number of men and women is greater than in 2004, then is the OA of 2 option still correct?

Please correct me if I am wrong.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

There is no issue with the answer here. Read the statement again. It is simply saying that the number of people with a "less than high school" degree decreased, and this can be inferred by looking at the figure that has negative values for both, which means there was a decrease in numbers from 2004 to 2014.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Yes! It will decrease.

The statement "The number of people with less than a high school diploma decreased from 2004 to 2014."

Only means that there was a 9 percent decrease in the number of males with a "less than high school" diploma and a 14.6 percent decrease in the number of females with a "less tha high school" diploma.

No matter what the actual number is, it will be less in 2014 than it was in 2004.

AnuK2222 · Answer

1. Cannot be concluded- no info provided on no. of people for any of the categories in 2024 (we have only inc/dec relative 2004)
2. Can be concluded- negative% inc i.e decrease for both men and women in category 1 (less than a high school diploma)
3. Cannot be concluded- no info provided on no. of people for any of the categories in 2024 (we have only inc/dec relative 2004)

Raghav101 · Answer

Shoulnt the 2nd scenario also be "Cannot be conculded" lets say there are 100 people in 1994 and 15% is the number of people in less than high school(men and women = 15,15) and then in 2004, there are 1000 people with reduced percent it should be 0.4% and 6%(men and women = 60,4) which is higher than the total in 1994.

NoeticImbecile · Answer

Sajjad1994  how can you arrive at the conclusion in s2 when actual number is unknown

Aryan19852 · Answer

Can anyone help me with 3rd option here I had assumed people completing masters must have completed bachelors so masters percentage is higher hence I marked can be concluded

jamiedimonn · Answer

Bunuel , can you please explain in simple.please

srik410 · Answer

In option B, why does "people" refer to men and women aged 25 or over implicitly? If that is not the case, people could refer to all population in which case B should be inconclusive as the chart does not have numbers for the general population of all ages

APram · Answer

Here we are only asked to check if the fact can be concluded or not.

It is taken as true that the population has male and females only until and unless it is explicitly mentioned in question that population consist of further categories.

In B people refer to all in total Male and female of age 25 or over with less than a degree has decreased 
Hope it helps in better understanding

srik410 · Answer

I think you misunderstood me. I meant (people != male and female of age 25 or over) but rather (people = male and female). Put it in an other way, aren't folk under 25 not considered people? If so, no data is available for them. Therefore I said could not be concluded

chrisgg · Answer

Conclusion #2 is tricky. I also thought it should be a "cannot be concluded" initially, since we don't know the total of people in 2004 and 2014. But notice that the argument does not depend on those totals! It's simply concluding that the number in 2014 is lower than it was in 2004, due to that % drop represented in the graph.

In other words, that -% in the graph does not depend on the totals of people on each year. It's just taking two numbers and saying that the last one is lower than the original one, no matter how much they represent from the total.

So yes, it can be concluded.

BinodBhai · Answer

The graph shows % change from 2004 number to 2014 number... assume 2004 to be 100 in all the cases for ease of calculation while solving:

1. In 2014, more than 50% of women aged 25 or over had an advanced degree - while the % is 52% but this is % change in just for women in advance degrees.. it was 100 earlier now 150... but it doesn't mean this represents all the women > 25 years.  Cannot be Concluded

2. The number of people with less than a high school diploma decreased from 2004 to 2014. - Both % decreased for men and women in 2014. Assume both to be 100 in 2004 (it can be any number) and since % change is -ve in 2014... the number will be less than what it was in 2004.  Can be Concluded

3. More people received advanced degrees than bachelor's degrees in 2014. - we can't comment on absolute numbers since we are given only % change in respective categories.  Cannot be Concluded

ccarson · Answer

I disagree with 2 because although you can say the percentage decreases which means that there are less people that haven't completed high school, I believe the description is misleading. The description says "number of men and women aged  25 and older ..."
2 is saying that the number of people decreased; are people who are younger than 25 not people? Let's say yes men and women over the age of 25 with a high school degree did increase but what if there are 10,000 of those people but there are 1,000,000 people younger than 25 and 100% of them didn't complete high school.
I disagree with this question and think it's low quality. 
Either way, I doubt when taking the GMAT you'll encounter a question as ambiguous as this one.

Can Be Concluded	Cannot Be Concluded
		In 2014, more than 50% of women aged 25 or over had an advanced degree.
		The number of people with less than a high school diploma decreased from 2004 to 2014.
		More people received advanced degrees than bachelor's degrees in 2014.

The graph below shows the percent change from 2004 to 2014 in the numb

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