Question

describe a situation in which a relatively large standard deviation is desirable.
choose the correct answer below.
a. a university produces better learning outcomes when its students have diverse backgrounds.
b. a group of students learns better when their mean standardized test scores are higher.
c. a company is more productive when its employees have similar ages.
d. a class is easier to teach when students standardized test scores have a large standard deviation.

Explanation:

• Option A: A large standard deviation in students' backgrounds (which can be thought of in a statistical sense as a measure of spread) implies diversity. Diversity in backgrounds can lead to better learning outcomes as students can share different perspectives.
• Option B: This is about the mean of test - scores, not the standard deviation. The mean and standard deviation are different statistical measures.
• Option C: Similar ages imply a small standard deviation (low spread in the data of ages), which is the opposite of what we want (a large standard deviation).
• Option D: A large standard deviation in test - scores means a wide spread of abilities. This would make a class harder to teach as the teacher would have to cater to a wider range of student levels.

Answer:

A. A university produces better learning outcomes when its students have diverse backgrounds.