Final answer:
The average number of sick days taken by the surveyed employees is calculated as the total number of sick days divided by the number of employees, resulting in an average of 8.375 days, which is less than the mean number of 10 days that the personnel team is questioning.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student is likely asking about a statistics problem which involves calculating the average number of sick days taken by employees. To find this average, also known as the mean, you add up all the individual sick days taken and divide by the number of employees. The employees surveyed took the following number of sick days in the past year: 12, 4, 15, 3, 11, 8, 6, 8. Adding these up gives us a total of 67 sick days.
Then, you divide this total by the number of employees surveyed, which in this case is 8, resulting in an average (X) of 8.375 sick days per year per employee. This is less than the purported average of 10 sick days per year that the personnel team is disputing. So, should the personnel team believe that the mean number is 10? Based on the sample they took, it would appear not, although a larger sample may be needed for a more conclusive result.