Provide an appropriate response.You are the coach of a basketball team. Player A's mean score per game over the last season has been 24 with a standard deviation of 2. Player B's mean score per game over the last season has been 23 with a standard deviation of 6. Contrast the performance of the two players. Which player would be your choice to play in a game in which you all you need is a medium performance to win? Which player would be your choice to play in a game in which your team needs an exceptional performance in order to win?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Player A has been playing more consistently, with little variation from game to game. Player B has almost the same mean score per game as player A but a higher standard deviation. This means that there is more variation in his score per game, sometimes his score is very high, sometimes quite low
If only a medium performance is needed, player A should be chosen as player A rarely has a poor game. If an exceptional performance is needed, player B should be chosen as he is more likely to have an exceptional game than player A