Time Participants Spent Reading about Five London Museums

Question

Museum Name Ranking Percentage of total time spent reading about museum by participants provided with ranking Percentage of total time spent reading about museum by participants not provided with ranking
British Museum
\[1\]
\[36\]
\[18\]
National Gallery
\[2\]
\[21\]
\[20\]
Natural History Museum
\[3\]
\[13\]
\[22\]
Tate Modern
\[4\]
\[16\]
\[17\]
Victoria and Albert Museum
\[5\]
\[14\]
\[23\]
Researchers recently conducted an experiment to understand how we use rankings to make decisions. They created a fictitious travel website describing five museums in London. Then, they invited two groups of participants, who had never visited the museums, to review the site and select the museum they would be most likely to visit. Meanwhile, the researchers tracked the amount of time each participant spent reading about each museum. For one group, the website ranked each museum, titling the page “The Top 5 Museums in London.” For the other group, the museums and their descriptions were not ranked. The researchers concluded that when reviewing ranked lists, we tend to focus on the top-ranked option.
Which choice best describes data in the table that support the researchers’ conclusion?
Choose 1 answer:
Choose 1 answer:
(Choice A) Participants who were not provided with a ranking of the museums spent roughly equal amounts of time reading about each museum.
A
Participants who were not provided with a ranking of the museums spent roughly equal amounts of time reading about each museum.
(Choice B) Participants who were not provided with a ranking of the museums spent the most time reading about the Victoria and Albert Museum.
B
Participants who were not provided with a ranking of the museums spent the most time reading about the Victoria and Albert Museum.
(Choice C) Participants who were provided with a ranking of the museums spent the least amount of time reading about the Natural History Museum.
C
Participants who were provided with a ranking of the museums spent the least amount of time reading about the Natural History Museum.
(Choice D) Participants who were provided with a ranking of the museums spent disproportionately more time reading about the British Museum.
D
Participants who were provided with a ranking of the museums spent disproportionately more time reading about the British Museum.

Answer 1

The data in the table indicates that participants who were provided with a ranking spent a significantly higher percentage of their total reading time on the British Museum compared to other museums. Specifically, they spent 36% of their time on the British Museum, which is notably higher than any other museum listed.

This supports the researchers’ conclusion that when reviewing ranked lists, we tend to focus on the top-ranked option.

Thus, the best choice that describes data in the table that supports the researchers’ conclusion is:

(Choice D) Participants who were provided with a ranking of the museums spent disproportionately more time reading about the British Museum.