Question

educators are constantly evaluating the efficacy of public schools in the education and training of students. one quantitative assessment of change over time is the difference in scores on the sat. the table below contains the average sat scores for 10 states for the years 1989 and 2004.
state | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10
1989 | 1001 | 1030 | 1017 | 1013 | 1118 | 1019 | 1080 | 1064 | 1010 | 1036
2004 | 1044 | 1071 | 1034 | 1049 | 1167 | 1056 | 1153 | 1084 | 1031 | 1065
...
construct a scatterplot for the data, with 1989 sat score on the horizontal axis and 2004 sat score on the vertical axis. what type of trend do you detect?
choose the correct scatterplot below.
○ a.
2004 score
1200
1000
1000 1200
1989 score
○ b.
1989 score
1200
1000
1000 1200
2004 score
○ c.
2004 score
1200
1000
1000 1200
1989 score

Explanation:

Step1: Analyze Axes Requirement

The problem requires 1989 scores on the horizontal (x - axis) and 2004 scores on the vertical (y - axis). So we first check the axes of each option. Option B has 1989 on the y - axis and 2004 on the x - axis, so we can eliminate B.

Step2: Check Data Points

Now we take some data points. For example, for State 1: 1989 = 1001, 2004 = 1044. For State 5: 1989 = 1118, 2004 = 1167. Let's check Option A and Option C. In Option A, the x - axis is 1989 scores (ranging from 1000 - 1200) and y - axis is 2004 scores. Let's plot the first few points: (1001, 1044), (1030, 1071), (1017, 1034), (1013, 1049), (1118, 1167). These points should show a positive trend (as 2004 scores are generally higher than 1989 scores for most states). Option A's scatterplot has points that align with these values. Option C seems to have a different distribution of points when we compare the relative positions of the 1989 and 2004 scores. For example, the higher 1989 scores (like 1118) should have higher 2004 scores (1167) and Option A shows this positive association better.

Answer:

A