TOPIC: Formula Study Guide

I am working on the Formula Study Guide version 5.03 and am confused by a weighted average question. Specifically, Q72. The question asks which vendor I would select and provides Price and Schedule, along with a 60/40 weighting. I selected the vendor with the lowest weighted average. I assumed the numbers in the table are prices and durations (as opposed to some sort of vendor rating). The answers says I should choose the vendor with the highest weighted average of price and schedule. Perhaps if I worked for the federal government, but otherwise not. What am I missing here?

Gary,

I reached out to our formula experts for assistance. So an answer is coming...

Hello Gary,

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. The question doesn't say the values in the table represent actual prices or durations. However, based on the question wording (price has 60% weight and duration 40% weight) and the scenario provided which is talking about vendor selection, it can be reasonably assumed that the values in the table represent price rating and schedule rating. Also, the fact the values have no units of measure (dollars, days, etc.), suggests they cannot be considered price and schedule.

In general, we have to keep in mind that the questions and the answers on the real exam could be ambiguous. They may have no any context, specific clarifications or clear definitions. Some information could be missing from the question text (or be extraneous to it) which may confuse/mislead the prospective PMP aspirants. Therefore, we always recommend making reasonable assumptions based on all AVAILABLE information in the question and select the BEST answer among the choices given.

Having said that, we understand your point, and we can see how this question may mislead other customers. Therefore, we will modify this question by replacing "Price" with "Price rating" and "Schedule" with "Schedule rating" as well as specifying that the rating is given on the scale from 1 (poor) to 20 (ideal).

I hope this clarifies the question and the correct answer to your satisfaction. Thank you for making us aware of this and helping us improve our products for all our customers.