Question

the economic research service (ers) from the united states department of agriculture (usda) uses information from different retail establishments to provide estimates of the average price per pound (in dollars) of different fruits and vegetables. these prices are used when publishing the dietary guidelines for americans in order to show individuals how much it will cost them to maintain a healthy diet. the graph below shows the distribution of the estimated average prices per pound, in 2024, of a sample of fruits. questions 11 through 13 each given an incorrect interpretation of the information shared in this graphical display. explain what is wrong with each incorrect interpretation.

1. because there are 9 bars in this graph, this means the data set includes only 9 fruits.
2. there must have been a mistake in terms of recording the data because four fruits in this data set have average prices equal to $0.
3. the majority of fruits in this distribution have prices between $2 and $3.

Explanation:

1. The bars represent price - ranges, not individual fruits. Each bar contains multiple fruits within its price - range.
2. A price of $0 could be correct. It might represent free - distributed fruits (e.g., through food - assistance programs) or fruits with negligible cost in some cases, not necessarily a data - recording error.
3. The bar from $2 - $3 has a high frequency, but we cannot say it's the majority. To determine the majority, we would need to calculate the cumulative frequency of all bars and see if this range has over 50% of the total.

Answer:

1. The bars represent price - ranges, not individual fruits.
2. A $0 price may not be a recording error.
3. We can't conclude it's the majority without cumulative frequency analysis.