Question

4. If you had a choice between two data connection plans that both advertised download speeds of 50 Mbps, but one had data speeds with an SD of 25 Mbps while the other had data speeds of 5 Mbps, which plan would you choose and why?

Answer 1

We know that standard deviation tells us about the possible spread of the data around the mean.

Assuming normal distribution for the data speed.

We know that 68% of the data fall within 1 standard deviation of the mean

here mean = 50 and standard deviation for one plan is 25 and second plan is 5

For first plan, 68% of the data speed will fall within the range (50-25) to (50+25), i.e 25 mbps to 75 mbps

For second plan, 68% of the data speed will fall within the range (50-5) to (50+5), i.e 45 mbps to 55 mbps

So, it is clear that second data plan is consistent and much more reliable as compared first data plan. First data plan will show higher fluctuation in data speed as compared to second data plan.

So, I will choose the second data plan as it is reliable and consistent.