The sample data below shows the number of hours spent by five students over the weekend to prepare for Monday's Business Statistics exam. 3 12 2 3 5.
The sample standard deviation of the number of hours spent by the five students is the closest to _________.
A) 3.6 hours
B) 4.1 hours
C) 13.2 hours
D) 16.5 hours

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

First, we need to find the mean of the sample data:
Mean = (3 + 12 + 2 + 3 + 5)/5 = 5 hours
Next, we can find the difference between each data point and the mean, and square it:
(3-5)^2 = 4
(12-5)^2 = 49
(2-5)^2 = 9
(3-5)^2 = 4
(5-5)^2 = 0
Then, we can find the sum of these squared differences:
4 + 49 + 9 + 4 + 0 = 66
To find the sample standard deviation, we need to divide this sum by the sample size minus one (n-1), and then take the square root:
s = sqrt(66/4) = 4.08 hours
Therefore, the closest answer is B) 4.1 hours.

The Sample Data Below Shows the Number of Hours Spent