A recent article suggests that Asian-Americans face serious discrimination in the college admissions process (The Boston Globe, February 8, 2010). Specifically, Asian applicants typically need an extra 140 points on the SAT to compete with white students. Another report suggests that colleges are eager to recruit Hispanic students who are generally underrepresented in applicant pools (USA Today, February 8, 2010). In an attempt to corroborate these claims, a sociologist first wants to determine if SAT scores differ by ethnic background. She collects data on 200 individuals from her city with their recent SAT scores and ethnic background.

A portion of the data is shown in Table 17.4; the complete data, labeled SAT and Ethnicity, can be found on the text website.