Question 64·Easy·Command of Evidence
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?
For SAT graph-and-table evidence questions, start by restating the claim you need to support in simple words (here: “with rankings, people focus on the top option”). Then go to the chart and look only at the data that are directly related to that claim (specific group, specific item, direction of effect). Next, test each answer by asking two questions: (1) Does it refer to the correct group and category? (2) Does the numerical pattern in the table clearly back up the conclusion, not just state some other true fact? Eliminate choices that are off-topic (wrong group, wrong museum, least instead of most, etc.), even if they describe the data correctly, and select the one that most directly shows the pattern described in the conclusion.
Hints
Focus on the conclusion first
Underline or mentally note the researchers’ conclusion: it is about what people do when they see ranked lists and how they treat the top-ranked option.
Find the relevant row and columns
In the table, identify the top-ranked museum and then compare the time spent on it by the group that was provided with a ranking versus the time spent on other museums in that same group.
Check which group and which museum each answer mentions
For each choice, ask: Does it talk about the group with rankings and does it relate to focusing on the top-ranked museum, or is it about something else (like the unranked group or a lower-ranked museum)?
Look for a strong contrast, not just any true statement
More than one answer choice may accurately describe the numbers, but you need the one that best supports the idea of extra attention to the top-ranked option, not just any pattern in the data.
Step-by-step Explanation
Restate what the question is asking
The question asks which choice best describes data in the table that support the researchers’ conclusion.
The conclusion is: when reviewing ranked lists, we tend to focus on the top-ranked option.
So we need an answer that:
- Talks about the group that saw rankings, and
- Shows that they focused more on the top-ranked museum than on the others.
Identify the relevant data in the table
The top-ranked museum is the British Museum (ranking 1).
Look at the percentages of time spent for participants provided with a ranking:
- British Museum (rank 1): 36%
- National Gallery (rank 2): 21%
- Tate Modern (rank 4): 16%
- Victoria and Albert Museum (rank 5): 14%
- Natural History Museum (rank 3): 13%
Notice that 36% is much higher than the time spent on any other museum in this ranked group.
Compare with the group that did not see rankings
Now look at the percentages for participants not provided with a ranking:
- British Museum: 18%
- National Gallery: 20%
- Tate Modern: 17%
- Victoria and Albert Museum: 23%
- Natural History Museum: 22%
These numbers are all fairly close together (from 17% to 23%), so this group did not focus strongly on any single museum, and the British Museum is not especially favored here.
Match the patterns to the answer choices
We want the choice that best connects the clear spike in attention to the British Museum (36%) for the ranked group with the idea of focusing on the top-ranked option.
- Some choices talk about the unranked group only, which does not show a strong focus on the top museum.
- Some focus on a least popular museum, not the top-ranked one.
- Only one option points out that the ranked group spent much more time on the top-ranked British Museum than on the other museums.
Therefore, the correct answer is:
B) Participants who were provided with a ranking of the museums spent disproportionately more time reading about the British Museum.