A graph question that asks for an example tests whether you can use the numbers to show the text’s claim. Read the claim first, and turn words such as majority into a clear number test. A majority means more than 50% of the group being described. Then read the title, axes, and key to find the right bars, and check every group a choice names. A choice can report the leading reason correctly yet fail the claim’s number test.
Hints
- Hint 1
Focus on the required share of responses in Chen’s claim. What does majority mean in percentage terms?
- Hint 2
The graph groups respondents by the county they moved to. Use the key to find the family-proximity bar in each group.
- Hint 3
Compare each family-proximity percentage with 50%. A bar must rise above that cutoff to show a majority.
Step-by-step
Test each destination’s family share
Step 1Set the majority cutoff
Chen says moving closer to family constituted a majority of responses, so the example must show how large that share was. What does majority mean? A majority is more than 50%, not only the largest share among the reasons. That gives us a cutoff to test within each destination group.
- Step 2
Find the right bars
Respondents selected their primary reason for moving, so we’re looking for the share choosing family proximity. The title groups reasons by destination, the vertical axis gives percentages, and the key labels the black bars as family proximity. So each black bar is one destination’s family share, not a percentage for all respondents combined.
- Step 3
Compare the shares with 50%
Which destinations show a majority of responses for family proximity? Rural is at 52%, and micropolitan is at 55%, so each is above 50%. Metropolitan is at 48%, below the cutoff even though its family bar is taller than the new-job bar at 41% and the housing-cost bar at 11%. The largest share isn’t always a majority, because responses can be split among three reasons without any one reason taking more than half.
- Step 4
Apply the claim to every named destination
The phrase for some destination types allows an example using fewer than all three types. But what must be true of each type named? Every destination listed must have a family share above 50%, so the line naming rural counties and micropolitan counties gives an example without including a destination below the cutoff. Choice C.