In the context of class rank, what does it mean for a student to be in the 3rd quintile?

• A. The student is in the middle 50% of the class (between the 25th and 75th percentiles).
• B. The student’s rank falls in the middle 20% of the class (between the 40th and 60th percentiles).
• C. The student is in the top 20% of the class (at or above the 80th percentile).
• D. The student is in the bottom 20% of the class (at or below the 20th percentile).

Answer: (B)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Understand that quintiles divide a data set into five equal parts, each representing 20% of the distribution.
2. Identify that the 1st quintile corresponds to the bottom 20% (0th to 20th percentile), the 2nd quintile to the next 20% (20th to 40th percentile), and so on.
3. Recognize that the 3rd quintile represents the middle 20% of the data, which lies between the 40th and 60th percentiles.
4. Relate this to class rank by understanding that a student in the 3rd quintile has a rank that falls within this middle 20% range of the class.
5. Conclude that being in the 3rd quintile means the student is neither in the top nor bottom 20%, but rather in the central segment of the class distribution.