For each year from 2011 through 2015, the graph shows the number of employees of a certain company during that...

Owning the Dataset

Table 1: Text Analysis

Table 2: Chart Analysis

Key Insights

1. The highest average compensation per employee occurs in 2014, when fewer employees (1,050) collectively received the most total compensation (\(\$56\mathrm{M}\)), exceeding 2013 despite a lower staff count.
2. In 2012, total compensation remained flat at \(\$43\mathrm{M}\) while the number of employees increased from 880 to 980, indicating the lowest average pay per employee of all years.
3. The trends in employee count and total compensation do not move in lockstep; company size peaked in 2013, while total compensation peaked later in 2014.

Step-by-Step Solution

Question 1: Finding the Year with Greatest Average Compensation Per Employee

Complete Statement:

The year in which the average (arithmetic mean) annual compensation per employee was GREATEST was ______

Breaking Down the Statement

• Statement Breakdown 1:
  • Key Phrase: average (arithmetic mean) annual compensation per employee
    • Meaning: This is the total employee compensation in a given year divided by the number of employees in that year.
    • Relation to Chart: We need to identify the total compensation (black line) and the number of employees (blue bars) for each year.
    • Important Implications: Simply looking for the highest total compensation or the highest number of employees individually will not give the answer. We must divide total compensation by the number of employees for each year.

• Statement Breakdown 2:
  • Key Phrase: was GREATEST
    • Meaning: Among the average compensations calculated for each year, choose the largest value.
    • Relation to Chart: After calculation or estimation of the average for each year, pick the year with the highest value.
    • Important Implications: We are looking for the maximum average, not just the largest single data point.

• What is needed: Which specific year (out of 2011-2015) had the highest average compensation per employee.

Solution:

• Condensed Solution Implementation:
  Estimate the average for each year by dividing total compensation by number of employees using the chart values, then compare.
• Necessary Data points:
  2011: \(\frac{\$43\mathrm{M}}{880}\); 2012: \(\frac{\$43\mathrm{M}}{980}\); 2013: \(\frac{\$55\mathrm{M}}{1140}\); 2014: \(\frac{\$56\mathrm{M}}{1050}\); 2015: \(\frac{\$42\mathrm{M}}{830}\)
  • Calculations Estimations:
    2011: \(\sim\$49\mathrm{k}\), 2012: \(\sim\$44\mathrm{k}\), 2013: \(\sim\$48\mathrm{k}\), 2014: \(\sim\$53\mathrm{k}\), 2015: \(\sim\$51\mathrm{k}\) (all in $ per employee, estimated).
  • Comparison to Answer Choices:
    2014 gives the highest average compensation per employee, around \(\$53\mathrm{k}\).

FINAL ANSWER Blank 1: 2014

Question 2: Finding the Year with Least Average Compensation Per Employee

Complete Statement:

The year in which the average (arithmetic mean) annual compensation per employee was LEAST was ______

Breaking Down the Statement

• Statement Breakdown 1:
  • Key Phrase: average (arithmetic mean) annual compensation per employee
    • Meaning: Total compensation in the year divided by the employee count in that year.
    • Relation to Chart: Use black line (total compensation) and blue bar (number of employees) for the calculation for each year.

• Statement Breakdown 2:
  • Key Phrase: was LEAST
    • Meaning: Pick the minimum among all the calculated averages.
    • Relation to Chart: Identify the lowest value after calculating/estimating each year's average.

• What is needed: Which specific year (out of 2011-2015) had the lowest average compensation per employee.

Solution:

• Condensed Solution Implementation:
  Use the same set of estimated averages calculated for Question 1 and select the lowest one.
• Necessary Data points:
  2011: \(\sim\$49\mathrm{k}\); 2012: \(\sim\$44\mathrm{k}\); 2013: \(\sim\$48\mathrm{k}\); 2014: \(\sim\$53\mathrm{k}\); 2015: \(\sim\$51\mathrm{k}\) (all in $ per employee, estimated).
  • Calculations Estimations:
    The lowest is 2012: \(\$43\mathrm{M}\) for 980 employees, which is about \(\$44\mathrm{k}\) per employee and less than all other years.
  • Comparison to Answer Choices:
    2012 is the year with the minimum average compensation per employee.

FINAL ANSWER Blank 2: 2012

Summary

To solve both blanks, we used estimation to find the average annual compensation per employee for each year. 2014 had the highest average (\(\sim\$53\mathrm{k}\)), and 2012 had the lowest (\(\sim\$44\mathrm{k}\)). Recognizing how the ratio shifts with both numerator (total compensation) and denominator (number of employees) was key to answering efficiently.

Question Independence Analysis

The two blanks are independent. Both ask for extreme values (maximum for Blank 1, minimum for Blank 2) for the same derived metric, but finding one does not directly give the other. Each must be checked individually.