Francis Galton, a contemporary of Charles Darwin, studied variation in complex traits such as human height. Use the bar graphs shown below to answer the following question: Which of the following statements best describes Figure 18.7 graph (b), which depicts Galton's data showing distribution of offspring height from the shortest parents he studied?
A)The parental mean for the shortest parents is larger than the mean height of their offspring.
B)The parental mean for the shortest parents is smaller than the mean height of their offspring.
C)Offspring from the shortest parents are taller than most members of the population.
D)The average height of the shortest parents is greater than the mean height of the population.
E)None of the answer options is correct.

Question

Francis Galton, a contemporary of Charles Darwin, studied variation in complex traits such as human height. Use the bar graphs shown below to answer the following question: Which of the following statements best describes Figure 18.7 graph (b), which depicts Galton's data showing distribution of offspring height from the shortest parents he studied? 
A)The parental mean for the shortest parents is larger than the mean height of their offspring. 
B)The parental mean for the shortest parents is smaller than the mean height of their offspring. 
C)Offspring from the shortest parents are taller than most members of the population. 
D)The average height of the shortest parents is greater than the mean height of the population. 
E)None of the answer options is correct.

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Figure 18.7 graph (b) shows a positively skewed distribution, meaning that there are more offspring with heights above the mean than below it. This suggests that the offspring from the shortest parents are taller on average than their parents, and therefore the parental mean for the shortest parents is smaller than the mean height of their offspring.

Francis Galton, a Contemporary of Charles Darwin, Studied Variation in Complex