Question

1 twenty students participated in a psychology experiment that measured their heart rates in two different situations.
(there are two dot plots, one for situation a and one for situation b, with heart rates on the x - axis from 70 to 105)
a. what are the appropriate measures of center and variability to use with the data?
explain your reasoning.
b. which situation shows a greater typical heart rate?
c. which situation shows greater variability?

Explanation:

Step1: Analyze distribution shape

Both dot plots are roughly symmetric (no extreme skewness/outliers distorting center).

Step2: Choose center/variability measures

For symmetric data, mean (center) and standard deviation (variability) are appropriate.

Step3: Compare typical heart rates

Mean of Situation B is higher (leftmost dot at 70 vs 75 in A; rightmost at 100 vs 100, but B’s data shifts left less).

Step4: Compare variability

Situation B has a wider range (70-100 vs 75-100 in A) and more spread, so greater variability.

Answer:

a. Mean (center) and standard deviation (variability)
b. Situation B
c. Situation B