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# The table above shows the number of packages shipped daily by each of

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Math Expert
Joined: 02 Sep 2009
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The table above shows the number of packages shipped daily by each of [#permalink]

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17 Jun 2016, 05:16
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The table above shows the number of packages shipped daily by each of the five companies during a 4-day period. The standard deviation of the numbers of packages shipped daily during the period was greatest for which of the five companies?

A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) E

[Reveal] Spoiler:
Attachment:

2016-06-17_1615.png [ 26.43 KiB | Viewed 9025 times ]
[Reveal] Spoiler: OA

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Re: The table above shows the number of packages shipped daily by each of [#permalink]

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17 Jun 2016, 14:03
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Company A : 45, 50, 50, 55. Mean = 50. Distance of each element from the mean = 5, 0, 0 , 5.
Company B : 10, 10, 30, 30. Mean = 20. Distance of each element from the mean = 10, 10, 10, 10
Company C : 28, 28, 30, 34. Mean = 30. Distance of each element from the mean = 2, 2, 2, 2
Company D : 38, 39, 41, 42. Mean = 40. Distance of each element from the mean = 2, 1, 1, 2
Company E : 50, 60, 60, 70. Mean = 60. Distance of each element from the mean = 10, 0, 0, 10.

From the data above, we can clearly see that the elements in B are most widely spread. And thus has the highest standard deviation. Hence B.
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Re: The table above shows the number of packages shipped daily by each of [#permalink]

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19 Jun 2016, 02:38
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The numbers in A, C, D are close.

B vs E:

For E, two of the deviations are zero
For B, all deviations are 10

So B is the clear choice.
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Re: The table above shows the number of packages shipped daily by each of [#permalink]

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05 Dec 2016, 18:20
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Bunuel wrote:

The table above shows the number of packages shipped daily by each of the five companies during a 4-day period. The standard deviation of the numbers of packages shipped daily during the period was greatest for which of the five companies?

A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) E

We are given the number of packages shipped by 5 companies. Let’s list those below:

Company A: 45 ,55, 50, 50

Company B: 10, 30, 30, 10

Company C: 34, 28, 28, 30

Company D: 39, 42, 41, 38

Company E: 50, 60, 60, 70

We may recall the the standard deviation represents how far the data points are from the mean. It’s not necessary to calculate the standard deviations of any of the data sets. Let’s “eyeball” the list instead. We see that the data points of Companies B and E are most spread apart. Thus, the largest standard deviation will come from either Company B or Company E.

Let’s calculate the mean (arithmetic average) for Company B and E.

Mean of Company B = (10 + 30 + 30 + 10)/4 = 80/4 = 20

For Company B, we see that the distances of the data points are 10, 10, 10, and 10, respectively, from the mean. (Note that we don’t care about the + or - signs of those distances.)

Mean of Company E = (50 + 60 + 60 + 70)/4 = 240/4 = 60

We see that the distances of the data points are 10, 0, 0, and 10, respectively, from the mean.

Thus, company B has a greater standard deviation than company E and hence the greatest standard deviation of the 5 companies.

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Joined: 08 Jun 2017
Posts: 69
The table above shows the number of packages shipped daily by each of [#permalink]

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17 Aug 2017, 22:26
Is nt there something like The highest std in a set will be something with the highest range. In that case isnt E the answer ? I know the Std will anyway be less in E . But how come this theory is contradicting. Bunuel i used the same logic that u had given for ur statistics qns in ur signature. Kindly explain. !!!

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Posts: 4679
Re: The table above shows the number of packages shipped daily by each of [#permalink]

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18 Aug 2017, 13:39
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Asac123 wrote:
Is nt there something like The highest std in a set will be something with the highest range. In that case isnt E the answer ? I know the Std will anyway be less in E . But how come this theory is contradicting. Bunuel i used the same logic that u had given for ur statistics qns in ur signature. Kindly explain. !!!

Dear Asac123,

I'm happy to respond. :-)

Standard Deviation on the GMAT
Give particular attention to the section "Rough and ready facts about standard deviation."

For this question, (B) & (E) both have a range of 20, a larger range than the others, so let's eliminate the other three and discuss these two.

Standard deviation is, we might say, a measure of the "typical" distance between the data points in a set and the mean of the set.

In (E), the mean is 60. Two of the data points are at 60, so they have a deviation of zero, and two are 10 away from 60, so they have deviations of +10 and -10. The set of deviations is {-10, 0, 0, 10}. Ignoring positive/negative, what's the typical size of those four numbers? Hard to say. It would be something between 0 and 10.

Now, look at (B). The mean is 20, and every single data point is exactly a distance of 10 from this mean of 20. If every data point is the same distance from the mean, that distance has to be the S.D. For (B), S.D. = 10.

Since the S.D. of (B) is equal to 10 and the S.D. of (E) would be less than 10, we know that (B) has to have the biggest.

Suppose we want the exact value of the S.D. of (E). This is more than you need to know for the GMAT, but what you would do is square those deviations, add them up, average those squared values, and then take a square root of that average.
list of deviations = {-10, 0, 0, 10}
list of squared deviations = {100, 0, 0, 100}
average of squared deviations = 50
$$S.D. = \sigma = \sqrt{50} = 5\sqrt{2} = 7.071$$

Does all this make sense?
Mike :-)
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Re: The table above shows the number of packages shipped daily by each of [#permalink]

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18 Aug 2017, 20:10
mikemcgarry wrote:
Asac123 wrote:
Is nt there something like The highest std in a set will be something with the highest range. In that case isnt E the answer ? I know the Std will anyway be less in E . But how come this theory is contradicting. Bunuel i used the same logic that u had given for ur statistics qns in ur signature. Kindly explain. !!!

Dear Asac123,

I'm happy to respond. :-)

Standard Deviation on the GMAT
Give particular attention to the section "Rough and ready facts about standard deviation."

For this question, (B) & (E) both have a range of 20, a larger range than the others, so let's eliminate the other three and discuss these two.

Standard deviation is, we might say, a measure of the "typical" distance between the data points in a set and the mean of the set.

In (E), the mean is 60. Two of the data points are at 60, so they have a deviation of zero, and two are 10 away from 60, so they have deviations of +10 and -10. The set of deviations is {-10, 0, 0, 10}. Ignoring positive/negative, what's the typical size of those four numbers? Hard to say. It would be something between 0 and 10.

Now, look at (B). The mean is 20, and every single data point is exactly a distance of 10 from this mean of 20. If every data point is the same distance from the mean, that distance has to be the S.D. For (B), S.D. = 10.

Since the S.D. of (B) is equal to 10 and the S.D. of (E) would be less than 10, we know that (B) has to have the biggest.

Suppose we want the exact value of the S.D. of (E). This is more than you need to know for the GMAT, but what you would do is square those deviations, add them up, average those squared values, and then take a square root of that average.
list of deviations = {-10, 0, 0, 10}
list of squared deviations = {100, 0, 0, 100}
average of squared deviations = 50
$$S.D. = \sigma = \sqrt{50} = 5\sqrt{2} = 7.071$$

Does all this make sense?
Mike :-)

Thanks Mike i understand that but if we take the range concept then wouldnt E be the answer
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Re: The table above shows the number of packages shipped daily by each of [#permalink]

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10 Dec 2017, 04:15
You don't need to calculate or solve this one, observe with logic you will be able to eliminate most of the choices.
Re: The table above shows the number of packages shipped daily by each of   [#permalink] 10 Dec 2017, 04:15
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