Final answer:
The construction time for a Binary Search Tree (BST) versus a linked list depends on the data being used. BSTs have a variable time complexity that can be O(n log n) or worse, whereas linked lists always have a time complexity of O(n). Choice of data structure depends on data and how it will be used.
Step-by-step explanation:
The time it takes to build a Binary Search Tree (BST) versus a linked list can vary based on several factors. The correct answer to the question is a) Depends on the data. When building a BST, the time complexity is O(n log n) on average, assuming a balanced tree, but can degrade to O(n^2) if the tree becomes unbalanced with a worst-case dataset. On the other hand, constructing a linked list has a time complexity of O(n) because you add each element consecutively, and it does not depend on the data's order.
In practice, if the data is unordered and there's no need for frequent searches, a linked list can be faster to build because there's no need for ordering during the build process. However, if the dataset is known or if we are going to perform frequent searches, the BST might be preferable despite the potential extra time for construction, due to the faster search times in a balanced BST.