For a school fund-raiser, 10 students sold a total of 90 boxes of cookies. Which of the following can be...

1. TRANSLATE the problem information

• Given information:
  • 10 students participated in fund-raiser
  • Total boxes sold = 90
  • Need to determine what can be calculated

2. INFER what each statistical measure requires

• Average/Mean: Only needs total and count
• Median: Needs individual values arranged in order
• Maximum: Needs to know individual values
• Minimum: Needs to know individual values

3. Calculate what's possible with given data

• Average = Total ÷ Count = 90 ÷ 10 = 9 boxes per student
• This works because we have both pieces needed: total (90) and count (10)

4. INFER why other measures cannot be calculated

• For median, max, and min: We'd need to know how many boxes each individual student sold
• The problem only gives us the total, not the breakdown by student

Answer: A

Why Students Usually Falter on This Problem

Most Common Error Path:

Weak INFER skill: Not recognizing the difference between what statistics can be calculated from totals versus individual data points.

Students might think 'we have numbers, so we should be able to calculate everything' without considering that median requires ordering individual values, or that finding max/min requires knowing each person's contribution. This leads to confusion about which answer choices are actually possible, causing them to guess or select multiple answers they believe are correct.

The Bottom Line:

This problem tests understanding of what information different statistical measures require - some work with just totals and counts, while others need the complete data set with individual values.