Graded Assignment -3 , Qs. 6

[Ranjit John]

Qs. 6. On how many days were there 34 students in the class?  

Since it hasn't asked how many days EXACTLY 34 students in the class, why can't we take the days where classes with more than 34 students present in the class?

 For eg., on the days with 37, 42, 43, 44 & 45 students, 34 students and more were there.

Request your clarification?

With regards,

Ranjit John

[CG]

This question has been asked a few times already on the forum. The course team is yet to admit to the ambiguity in the question.

https://groups.google.com/a/nptel.iitm.ac.in/forum/#!searchin/ma1002-discuss/34|sort:date/ma1002-discuss/DfFOOMDZxc4/NMNA059ZAQAJ

I have provided an example in one of the other threads.

Example 1

Suppose the school has a rule that only if there are at least 34 students in class will the teacher get paid. So the school accountant asks rather ambiguously, "On how many days were there 34 students in the class?" . If he concludes that there were zero days where there were 34 students in class, the teacher will not get paid. 

Example 2

If the same stem and leaf plot represents the cash(in Rs) that 16 people have. The following questions are asked:

i) How many people have 34 rupees ? 5 people

ii) How many people have exactly 34 rupees ? 0 people 

The word "exactly" makes a difference to the outcome. 

[statistics-1]

Hi,

In the question we have not asked about least or more. There is no point in bringing the ambiguity in this question. Please read again and understand the stem and leaf plot and the question statement properly.

Thanks

Ankur Upadhyay

Course Support Team

[CG]

Hello Ankur Upadhyay,

I suggest that you carefully read the response and the examples in full, to understand why the explicit mention of "exactly" makes a difference to the answer. Since "exactly" is not explicitly mentioned in the question it becomes ambiguous since 2 answers are possible.

This question has been discussed on 3 threads in this Google Group.

- Here

- https://groups.google.com/a/nptel.iitm.ac.in/d/msg/ma1002-discuss/CeZC8cnZVpw/OQRhCHRhAQAJ Here one of the students points out that the solution to the graded assignment uses the word "exactly." It is incorrect to assume 

- https://groups.google.com/a/nptel.iitm.ac.in/d/msg/ma1002-discuss/DfFOOMDZxc4/inI1qyUbAQAJ 

All those who raised doubts about this question have well understood stem leaf plots as explained in the lectures. If you still do not comprehend the reason why the word "exactly" makes a difference, you may consult someone from English I to help you to understand better. 

Example to illustrate the difference that the word "exactly" makes, if it were part of the question.

If the same stem and leaf plot represents the cash(in Rs) that 16 people have. The following questions are asked:

i) How many people have 34 rupees ? 5 people

ii) How many people have exactly 34 rupees ? 0 people 

It looks like the course team is using ad hoc procedures to make decisions as to which questions are indeed ambiguous. Like the removal of Question 14 in the graded assignment. Please state the detailed reasoning behind the removal of this question from the graded assignment.