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CA Foundation · Quantitative Aptitude · Measures of Central Tendency and Dispersion

Daily wages of workers in two units of a Pune factory are: Batch X has mean ₹400 and SD ₹60; Batch Y has mean ₹250 and SD ₹50. Which batch has more consistent wages?

Batch X is more consistent. Because the means differ, the coefficient of variation must be compared, not the standard deviations. Batch X has CV = 60/400 × 100 = 15%, while Batch Y has 50/250 × 100 = 20%. The lower CV indicates less relative variation, so X is more consistent.

  1. ABatch X, because its CV is 15%Correct
  2. BBatch Y, because its CV is 20%
  3. CBatch X, because its SD is larger
  4. DBatch Y, because its mean is smaller

Explanation

Consistency is compared using the coefficient of variation, CV = (SD/Mean) × 100. For X, CV = 60/400 × 100 = 15%. For Y, CV = 50/250 × 100 = 20%. The lower CV means greater consistency, so X is more consistent. Comparing raw SDs is misleading because the means differ.

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