Question

The line plots represent data collected on the travel times to school from two groups of 15 students.

A horizontal line starting at 0, with tick marks every two units up to 28. The line is labeled Minutes Traveled. There is one dot above 4,6,14, and 28. There are two dots above 10, 12, 18, and 22. There are three dots above 16. The graph is titled Bus 47 Travel Times.

A horizontal line starting at 0, with tick marks every two units up to 28. The line is labeled Minutes Traveled. There is one dot above 10,16,20, and 28. There are two dots above 8 and 14. There are three dots above18. There are four dots above 12. The graph is titled Bus 14 Travel Times.

Compare the data and use the correct measure of variability to determine which bus is the most consistent. Explain your answer.

Bus 47, with an IQR of 8
Bus 14, with an IQR of 6
Bus 47, with a range of 8
Bus 14, with a range of 6

Answer 1

`\:`

To determine which bus is the most consistent, we need to compare the interquartile ranges (IQR) and ranges of the two data sets.

Bus 47 has an IQR of 8 and a range of 8.

Bus 14 has an IQR of 6 and a range of 6.

The IQR is a better measure of variability than the range because it is less sensitive to outliers. In this case, we can see that Bus 14 has a smaller IQR, indicating that the travel times for Bus 14 are more consistent.

Therefore, Bus 14 is the most consistent bus in terms of travel times.