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Two supermarkets both average a five minute wait. A has a standard deviation of two minutes and B has four. Which has more varied waits?
ASupermarket A, its deviation being smaller
BNeither, since the averages are the same
CSupermarket B, its deviation being larger
DNeither, since deviations cannot be compared
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: C. Supermarket B, its deviation being larger
1. Both queues share the same average wait of five minutes, so the means settle nothing.
2. A larger standard deviation means the individual waits sit further from that average.
3. Supermarket B has the larger deviation at four minutes, so its waits are the more varied.
_Source: OpenStax Introductory Business Statistics (CC BY 4.0), Ch 2 "Descriptive Statistics", section 2.7 Measures of the Spread of the Data_
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