Question

4. Starting teachers salary for secondary schools in selected countries are listed below. Which set

of data is more variable? (2 marks)
Caribbean Asia
Guyana 27,789
Barbados 48,704
Jamaica 32,679
Trinidad 41, 441
Belize 32,136
St Vincent 30,384
St. Lucia 29,326

Answer 1

The variability of the Caribbean teachers' starting salaries is $20,915, calculated by the range. To compare with Asian data, we would need the respective figures. A high variability indicates greater disparity in teacher pay, which can influence recruitment and teacher quality.

Step-by-step explanation:

To determine which set of data is more variable, we need to calculate a measure of variability such as the range or standard deviation. Unfortunately, the Asia data is not provided, so we will focus on assessing variability within the Caribbean data only. To do this, we first find the difference between the highest and lowest salaries, which gives us the range. In the Caribbean data:

• Highest salary (Barbados): $48,704
• Lowest salary (Guyana): $27,789

Range = Highest salary - Lowest salary = $48,704 - $27,789 = $20,915

Based only on this range, the Caribbean data set has a variability of $20,915.