How many teens, as per the Bic survey, do not own a pen ?
2015
How many teens, as per the Bic survey, do not own a pen ?
Answer: D. 100 — Concept — a survey statistic is usually reported as a proportion — a percentage, a fraction, or an “one in n” ratio — rather than as a head-count. A…
- A.
800
- B.
560
- C.
500
- D.
100
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
Concept — a survey statistic is usually reported as a proportion — a percentage, a fraction, or an “one in n” ratio — rather than as a head-count. A proportion becomes a head-count only when it is scaled by the size of the group that was surveyed: count = proportion × total surveyed. Every proportion quoted from one survey is scaled by the same total, so the real work is tying each figure to the proportion it came from.
Application — the passage supplies both the size of the poll and the proportion attached to pen ownership.
Read off the size of the poll: the stationers Bic polled 1,000 teens.
Read off the proportion the passage attaches to pen ownership: one in 10 of those teens do not own a pen.
Express that proportion as a fraction of the whole: one in 10 = 1/10 = 10%.
Scale it by the size of the poll: 10% of 1,000 = 1,000 ÷ 10 = 100 teens.
Cross-check — the other numbers offered sit at the survey’s other proportions of 1,000, so each figure has to be tied back to the finding the passage attaches to that proportion. One of those proportions is given with a qualifier, so it fixes a range rather than an exact head-count.
Proportion in the passage | Head-count out of 1,000 | Finding the passage attaches to it |
|---|---|---|
more than 80% | more than 800 | have never written a love letter |
56% | 560 | do not have letter paper at home |
half | 500 | have never been made to sit down and write a thank-you letter |
one in 10 | 100 | do not own a pen |
Result — only the “one in 10” figure is attached to not owning a pen, and one in 10 of 1,000 teens is 100. So 100 of the teens in the Bic poll do not own a pen.