What percentage of departments were behind schedule in implementing the new HRIS?

• A. 25%
• B. 43%
• C. 60%
• D. 75%

Answer: (B)

Understanding how to read a proportion from data is what's being tested here. When a question asks what percentage of departments were behind schedule, you’re looking for the portion of the total that are delayed, expressed as a percent. That means number behind schedule divided by total departments, times 100.

In this case, the data indicate 0.43 of the departments were behind schedule, which is 43%. So, if there were 100 departments, about 43 would be behind schedule; with 25 departments, about 11 would be behind schedule, and so on. The other options (25%, 60%, 75%) would correspond to different counts behind schedule and don’t match the reported figure of 43%.

So the correct interpretation is that 43% of departments were behind schedule.