Time Participants Spent Reading about Five London MuseumsMuseum NameRankingPercentage of total time spent reading about museum by participants provide...
GMAT Information and Ideas : (Ideas) Questions
Time Participants Spent Reading about Five London Museums
| 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 |
| Tate Modern | 4 | 16 | 17 |
| Victoria and Albert Museum | 5 | 14 | 23 |
| Natural History Museum | 3 | 13 | 22 |
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?
Participants who were not provided with a ranking of the museums spent roughly equal amounts of time reading about each museum.
Participants who were provided with a ranking of the museums spent disproportionately more time reading about the British museum.
Participants who were provided with a ranking of the museums spent the least amount of time reading about the Natural History Museum.
Participants who were not provided with a ranking of the museums spent the most time reading about the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "Researchers recently conducted an experiment to understand how we use rankings to make decisions." |
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| "They created a fictitious travel website describing five museums in London." |
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| "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." |
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| "Meanwhile, the researchers tracked the amount of time each participant spent reading about each museum." |
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| "For one group, the website ranked each museum, titling the page 'The Top 5 Museums in London.'" |
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| "For the other group, the museums and their descriptions were not ranked." |
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| "The researchers concluded that when reviewing ranked lists, we tend to focus on the top-ranked option." |
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Main Point and Structure
Main Point: Research demonstrates that when people encounter ranked lists, they disproportionately focus their attention on the highest-ranked option.
Step 2: Interpret the Question Precisely
What's being asked? The question asks which data from the table supports the researchers' conclusion that people focus on top-ranked options when seeing rankings.
What type of answer do we need? Sciences content with text plus data table format, asking us to identify supporting evidence for a research conclusion.
Any limiting keywords? None specified.
Step 3: Prethink the Answer
- To support the conclusion that people focus on top-ranked options, we need data showing:
- The top-ranked museum (British Museum) received disproportionately more attention when rankings were provided
- This should be evident as a much higher percentage of time spent on the British Museum in the ranked condition
Participants who were not provided with a ranking of the museums spent roughly equal amounts of time reading about each museum.
- Claims equal time distribution in unranked condition - doesn't directly support the conclusion about focusing on top-ranked options.
Participants who were provided with a ranking of the museums spent disproportionately more time reading about the British museum.
- Shows British Museum (top-ranked) received \(36\%\) of time with rankings versus much less for other museums - directly demonstrates people focusing on the top option when rankings are present.
Participants who were provided with a ranking of the museums spent the least amount of time reading about the Natural History Museum.
- About Natural History Museum getting least attention - doesn't support the conclusion about top options getting MORE focus.
Participants who were not provided with a ranking of the museums spent the most time reading about the Victoria and Albert Museum.
- About unranked condition behavior - doesn't demonstrate the effect of rankings on focusing behavior.