Final answer:
2.A paperback books generally costs less than a hard cover book. The correct statement is that a paperback book generally costs less than a hard cover book, based on the mean prices of Olivia's recorded data, with paperback books at $8.14 and hardcover books at $17.49.
Step-by-step explanation:
Olivia's recorded prices of paperback and hardcover books allow us to analyze which statement is true given the data. To determine the accuracy of each statement, we can look at the mean price of each type of book she recorded. The mean price of paperback books is $8.14, while the mean price of hardcover books is $17.49. This indicates that, on average, paperback books cost less than hardcover books. Consequently, the correct statement based on Olivia's data is Statement 2: A paperback book generally costs less than a hardcover book.
Statement 1 suggests a greater spread in prices of paperback books. However, to evaluate the spread, we would need to calculate the standard deviation or range for both types of books, which is not provided, hence we can't confirm Statement 1 with the given means alone.
Statement 3, which implies that paperback books cost more, and Statement 4, which suggests paperback and hardcover books cost about the same, are both incorrect when comparing the mean prices of paperback and hardcover books.