A group of 22 students participated in a race. Their scores are below:

\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|c|c|c|}
\hline
Score (points) & [tex]$4-5$[/tex] & [tex]$6-7$[/tex] & [tex]$8-9$[/tex] & [tex]$10-11$[/tex] & [tex]$12-13$[/tex] \\
\hline
Number of Students & 3 & 5 & 8 & 4 & 2 \\
\hline
\end{tabular}

Would a dot plot or a histogram best represent the data presented here? Why?

A. Dot plot, because a large number of scores are reported as ranges
B. Dot plot, because a small number of scores are reported individually
C. Histogram, because a large number of scores are reported as ranges
D. Histogram, because a small number of scores are reported individually



Answer :

To determine whether a dot plot or a histogram would best represent the data, we need to consider the nature of the data provided and how best it can be visually represented.

The provided scores for 22 students are grouped into ranges:

- Scores between 4-5 points: 3 students
- Scores between 6-7 points: 5 students
- Scores between 8-9 points: 8 students
- Scores between 10-11 points: 4 students
- Scores between 12-13 points: 2 students

Since the scores are given in ranges, the data is continuous and grouped. When data is grouped into ranges like this, a histogram is typically the best choice for representation. This is because histograms are used to display the distribution of a set of continuous data divided into intervals or ranges.

A histogram will effectively show how many students fall into each score range, highlighting the distribution and frequency of scores. Specifically, it will allow for visualizing the concentration of scores in certain ranges and comparing the number of scores across different ranges.

Therefore, the best representation for this data is:

Histogram, because a large number of scores are reported as ranges

This choice is suitable as it leverage's the histogram's ability to represent frequency distributions over continuous intervals.