Question

An educational research company randomly surveyed 10 high school teachers and 10 middle school teachers and recorded how many years they have been teaching.


Years Teaching
,begin bold,High School,end bold,

,begin bold,Middle School,end bold,
10 5
8 7
11 10
15
4

6

11

18

12

13

8

14

9

9 15
20 12

Question
Based on the survey data, how much greater is the mean years of teaching for high school teachers than for middle school teachers? Round the answer to the nearest tenth. Enter the answer in the box.

Answer 1

To find the mean years of teaching for high school teachers, we add up the years of teaching and divide by the total number of high school teachers surveyed (10):

Mean years of teaching for high school teachers = (10 + 8 + 11 + 15 + 4 + 6 + 11 + 18 + 12 + 13) / 10 = 108 / 10 = 10.8

Similarly, to find the mean years of teaching for middle school teachers, we add up the years of teaching and divide by the total number of middle school teachers surveyed (10):

Mean years of teaching for middle school teachers = (5 + 7 + 10 + 15 + 12 + 9 + 9 + 9 + 15 + 12) / 10 = 103 / 10 = 10.3

To find the difference between the mean years of teaching for high school teachers and middle school teachers, we subtract the mean years of teaching for middle school teachers from the mean years of teaching for high school teachers:

Difference = 10.8 - 10.3 = 0.5

Rounded to the nearest tenth, the difference is 0.5.