A large retail company gives an employment screening test to all prospective employees. If a prospective employee receives a report saying that she scored at the 40th percentile:
A) she scored above the median.
B) she scored better than 40 percent of people who took the test.
C) she scored in the top 40 percent of people who took the test.
D) her z-score was a 40.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Scoring at the 40th percentile means the individual scored better than 40 percent of the people who took the test, not that they are in the top 40 percent or above the median (50th percentile). Percentiles rank the position below which a certain percentage of scores fall, and a z-score is a measure of how many standard deviations an element is from the mean, not a percentile rank.

A Large Retail Company Gives an Employment Screening Test to All