Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate

School-Based Assessment
Add Mathematics

Topic: An investigation to determine if consumers are getting what they paid for in terms
of liters at the gas pumps.

Group Members:

1. Kayla Kirton
2. Videsh Persad
3. Daniel Sidnauth

Subject: Additional Mathematics

Subject Teacher: Hubern Collins

Centre Number: 090047

Centre Name: Saint Joseph High School

Territory: Guyana

Year of Examination: 2023

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
During the process of completing this Mathematics School-Based Assessment, the researchers
would first like to thank God for giving them life and strength. They received a lot of
encouragement, guidance and cooperative support from their parents, friends, and teacher, Sir
Hubern Collins. It gives the researchers great pleasure to express their gratitude to all sources of
information and informants.
 INTRODUCTION
In recent times, gas prices around the world have begun to escalate due to the war in Ukraine
and Russia where Russia’s president Vladimir Putin has sanctioned gas export policies. Due to
this, gas prices all over the globe have experienced an increase. In Guyana especially, citizens
have noticed a rapid increase in fuel prices at the pumps. This leads us to ask, are gas stations
giving you what you pay for or are they trying to make a profit at the consumer's expense? In this
School Based Assignment, we will observe the varying amount of gas in liters from the different
types of gas stations.
In the Edward family of three (3) members, a fixed amount of money is allocated for each
aspect of the family’s life, the sum of $10,000 is put aside for gas each month to travel from
home to the office and back approximately 10 miles total each day. Due to the rise in gas prices
for which the family had not prepared in advance of such a situation, an incident where the fixed
sum was no longer enough for their monthly consumption occurred. To prevent this, the
researchers have decided to investigate whether different gas stations namely the four main
brands of fuel in Guyana: Shell, Rubis, Guyoil and Two Brothers offer the same volume of gas
to the customers at a given price to find the best value for their money. To do this, the respective
members of the group will visit each gas station filling up $1000 worth of gas. Using visual
observation, the members of the group will record the amount given and compare in hopes of
finding the most cost-efficient gas station and if the amount of gas varied in liters from station to
station, they would observe the position of the attendant’s hands and if the gas pump is being
clicked or not. This will cut down on their gas expenses from traversing distances of 7 Km back
and forth, 5 days a week. This information will be collected by each member of the group as they
traversed, each refueling at different gas stations, thrice at the different locations of each station
mentioned previously.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 1

INTRODUCTION 2

PROJECT TITLE 4

METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION 5

PRESENTATION OF DATA 6

ANALYSIS OF DATA 16

DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS 18

RECOMMENDATIONS 20

CONCLUSION 21

APPENDIX 22
 PROJECT TITLE
An investigation to determine if consumers are getting what they paid for in terms of
liters at the gas pumps.
 METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION
To gather information to deal with the current predicament, the researchers decided to visit the
various gas stations and record their observations, whilst also using fifty copies of virtual
questionnaires to gain drivers' opinions on this matter. The questionnaire method was chosen
because of its advantages, including:
 Less time consumption.
 Quick and accurate responses.
 Ensured the anonymity of the respondents.
While some of its disadvantages may include:
 It gives secondary information when primary evidence is at hand.
 It is only limited to a few responses so an individual cannot fully express themselves.
The purpose of the visit to the gas stations was to get visual readings of gas for a specified
amount of money. A total of four gas stations were selected, and one person visited each gas
station to buy one thousand dollars’ worth of gas, using three different locations to gain accurate
readings. The results were recorded in form of charts, graphs and tables so that a comparison of
prices per volume could be made. Of the fifty respondents, twenty-nine were females and
twenty-one were males.
PRESENTATION OF DATA

Figure 1

Figure 2
Figure 3

Figure 4
Figure 5

Figure 6
Figure 7

Figure 8
Figure 9

Figure 10
Figure 11

Figure 12

Figure 13
Figure 14

Figure 15
Figure 16

Figure 17
Figure 18

Figure 19
 DATA ANALYSIS

Figure 1 - shows a total of fifty responses from which twenty-nine were females (58%) and
twenty-one were males (42%).
Figure 2 - shows that thirty persons were between the ages of sixteen and twenty-five (60%),
fourteen were between sixteen and forty (28%), four people were between the ages of forty-one
and forty-five and the two remaining persons were over forty-six.
Figure 3 - shows that forty-three persons (86%) owned their car, seven persons (14%) borrowed
cars and no one rented a cars.
Figure 4 - shows that twenty-four persons (48%) spent $6,000 - $10,000 on gas fortnightly, ten
persons (20%) spent $10,000 - $15,000 on gas fortnightly, ten persons (20%) spent more than
$15,000 fortnightly and six persons (12%) spent less than $5,000 on gas fortnightly.
Figure 5 - shows twenty-six persons (52%) buy gas 4 - 6 times per month, sixteen persons (32%)
buy gas 1-3 times per month, six persons (12%) buy gas more than 10 times per month and two
persons (4%) buy gas 7 - 9 times per month.
Figure 6 - shows twenty-two persons (44%) budget $20,000 for gas expenses each month,
eighteen persons (36%) budget $15,000 or less for gas expenses each month and ten persons
(20%) budget $30,000 for gas expenses each month.
Figure 7 - shows that when asked if gas prices were affordable, forty-seven persons (94%) said
no while six persons (3%) said yes.
Figure 8 - shows that twenty-seven persons (55.1%) buy gas from Shell, seventeen persons
(34.7%) buy gas from Guyoil, five persons (10.2%) buy gas from Rubis, and no one buys gas
from Two Brothers.
Figure 9 - shows when asked how many miles $1000 worth of gas would last you on average,
eighteen persons (36%) said 2, seventeen persons (34%) said 4 or more, ten persons (20%) said
3, and five persons (10%) said 1.
Figure 10 - shows when asked how long $2000 worth of gas would last you, forty-three persons
(86%) said 1-3 days, five persons (10%) said 4-5 days, one person (2%) said 1 week, and one
person (2%) said more than one week.
Figure 11 - shows when asked how long $5000 worth of gas would last you, twenty-six persons
(52%) said 4-5 days, eleven persons (22%) said 1 week, nine persons (18%) said 1-3 days and
four persons (8%) said more than one week.
Figure 12 - shows when asked how many miles you travel per day on average, twenty-six
persons (52%) said 1-25, fifteen persons (30%) said 25-50, five persons (10%) said 50-75, and
four persons (8%) 75 and above.
Figure 13 - shows when asked about the size of their engine, twenty-three persons (46%) said
1500cc, fourteen persons (28%) said 1400cc, eleven persons (22%) said 2000cc and above, and
two persons (4%) 1000cc.
Figure 14 - shows when asked how long a full tank of gas would last you, twenty-one persons
(42%) said 1 week, fourteen persons (28%) said 2 weeks, eight persons (16%) said 3 weeks, and
seven persons (14%) said more than 3 weeks.
Figure 15 - shows when asked how many times you buy gas per month on average, twenty-five
persons (50%) said 4-6 times, seventeen persons (34%) 1-3 times, four persons (8%) said 7-9
times and four persons (8%) said more than 10 times.
Figure 16 - shows when asked which is the most fuel-efficient gas for you, thirty persons (60%)
said Shell, fifteen persons (30%) said Guyoil, five persons (10%) said Rubis, and no one said
Two Brothers.
Figure 17 - shows that when asked if different gas types affect your car’s performance, thirty-
eight persons (76%) said yes and twelve (24%) said no.
Figure 18 - shows when asked what should be the ideal price for 1 litre of gas should be, twenty
persons (40%) said $150, seventeen persons (34%) said $100, twelve persons (24%) said $200,
and one person (2%) said more than $300.
Figure 19 - shows when asked if they drive with the air conditioning on, forty-two persons
(84%) said yes and eight persons (16%) said no.
DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
For Guyoil, it can be seen the prices for all the Guyoil outlets around the country will be the
same no matter where the station is located in stark contrast to Rubis whose gas costs about $10
more than Guyoil.
 RECOMMENDATIONS
It would be recommended that the price of 1 liter of Gas should drop to between $100-$150

since most of the respondents stated that they would prefer a price around that margin for Gas.
 CONCLUSION

This SBA has shown that you should buy gas from Shell over other Gas stations as it is more

efficient with a lower cost.

 COVER LETTER

Lot 312 La Bonne Intention

Railway Line

East Coast Demerara

12, July 2022

Dear Respondent,

The survey was conducted to determine if the customers were getting what they paid for at the
gas station pumps.

We invite you to participate in research entitled Gas Consumption Versus Cost-Efficiency. Your
participation in this survey through the questionnaire can help in recording resourceful data that
will make sure customers are getting the bang for their buck in their purchase of gas for their
vehicles. The data provided by the survey will protect all information given by the respondent,
meaning all information recorded will remain anonymous and confidential, and will only be used
to complete an important SBA which enables the comparison between different gas providers.
Thank you in advance for your contribution to the completion of this survey.
 Questionnaire
Instructions: Please put a tick in the box next to the answer of your choice or write in the
space provided.

1. What Gender are you?

☐ Male

☐ Female

2. How old are you?

☐ 16 - 25

☐ 26 – 40

☐ 41 – 45

☐ More than 56

3. The car that you drive is-

☐ Your personal car

☐ Borrowed

☐ Rented

4. How much money do you spend on gas fortnightly?

☐ Under $5000

☐ $6000 - $10,000

☐ $10,000 - $15,000

☐ More than $15,000

5. On average, how many times do you buy gas per month?

☐ 1 – 3 times

☐ 4 – 6 times

☐ 7 – 9 times

☐ More than 10 times

6. How much money do you budget for gas expenses each month?

☐ $15,000 or less

☐ $20,000

☐ $30,000 or more

7. Do you think the price of gas these days is affordable?

☐ Yes

☐ No

8. Which gas station do you usually go to?

☐ Guyoil

☐ Rubis

☐ Shell

☐ Two Brothers`
9. On average how many miles would $1000 worth of gas last you?

☐1

☐2

☐3

☐ 4 or more

10. How long does $2000 of gas last you?

☐ 1 – 3 days

☐ 4 – 5 days

☐ 1 week

☐ More than 1 week

11. How long does $5000 of gas last you?

☐ 1 – 3 days

☐ 4 – 5 days

☐ 1 week

☐ More than 1 week

12. On average, how many miles do you travel per day?

☐ 1 – 25

☐ 25 – 50

☐ 50 – 75

☐ 75 and above
13. What is the size of your engine?

☐ 1000cc

☐ 1200cc

☐ 1500cc

☐ 2000cc and above

14. How long does a full tank of gas last you?

☐ 1 week

☐ 2 weeks

☐ 3 weeks

☐ More than 3 weeks

15. Which is the most fuel-efficient gas for you?

☐ Guyoil

☐ Rubis

☐ Two Brothers

☐ Shell

16. Do different gas types affect your car's performance?

☐ Yes

☐ No

17. If yes, provide a short response on how it affects your car’s performance.

……………………………………………………………………………………
18. What do you think should be the ideal gas price for 1 litre of gas?

☐ $100

☐ $150

☐ $200

☐ Less than $300

19. Do you drive with air conditioning on?

☐ Yes

☐ No

20. Does air conditioning affect your car’s gas consumption?

☐ Yes

☐ No