Gabrielle Adams and colleagues reviewed suggestions for improving a university that had been submitted to the university’s president. They coded each suggestion as additive (the idea suggested adding something new to the university), subtractive (the idea suggested removing something from the university), neither additive nor subtractive, or invalid (the idea was not comprehensible). The data illustrated people’s tendency to overlook the possibility of removing things to achieve improvements: ______

Question

Gabrielle Adams and colleagues reviewed suggestions for improving a university that had been submitted to the university’s president. They coded each suggestion as additive (the idea suggested adding something new to the university), subtractive (the idea suggested removing something from the university), neither additive nor subtractive, or invalid (the idea was not comprehensible). The data illustrated people’s tendency to overlook the possibility of removing things to achieve improvements: ______
Which choice most effectively uses data in the graph to complete the statement?
Choose 1 answer:
Choose 1 answer:
(Choice A)   fewer than 100 suggestions were coded as subtractive, whereas more than 550 suggestions were coded as additive.
A
fewer than 100 suggestions were coded as subtractive, whereas more than 550 suggestions were coded as additive.
(Choice B)   more than 350 suggestions were coded as invalid, whereas fewer than 100 suggestions were coded as subtractive.
B
more than 350 suggestions were coded as invalid, whereas fewer than 100 suggestions were coded as subtractive.
(Choice C)   around 575 suggestions were coded as additive, whereas around 175 suggestions were coded as subtractive.
C
around 575 suggestions were coded as additive, whereas around 175 suggestions were coded as subtractive.
(Choice D)   around 175 suggestions were coded as neither additive nor subtractive, whereas around 575 suggestions were coded as additive.
D
around 175 suggestions were coded as neither additive nor subtractive, whereas around 575 suggestions were coded as additive.

GPT-4o mini · Answer

The statement is focusing on illustrating a tendency to overlook the possibility of removing things as a means of improvement, which suggests a comparison between the number of additive and subtractive suggestions.

Analyzing the provided choices:

Choice A: States fewer than 100 suggestions were coded as subtractive, and more than 550 as additive. This effectively highlights the stark difference in the suggestions and supports the idea of people overlooking subtractive suggestions.
Choice B: While it notes that more suggestions were coded as invalid, it doesn't effectively emphasize the focus on subtractive suggestions.
Choice C: Provides specific numbers but doesn’t underscore the fact that the number of additive suggestions far exceeds subtractive suggestions.
Choice D: Discusses the category of neither additive nor subtractive, which diverts the focus from the key comparison that illustrates the trend.

Given the goal of illustrating the tendency to overlook removing things, Choice A is the most effective as it directly contrasts the low number of subtractive suggestions with the high number of additive suggestions.

So the answer is: (Choice A) fewer than 100 suggestions were coded as subtractive, whereas more than 550 suggestions were coded as additive.