- (Topic 2)
A private school has decided to include bullet charts in students' end of year performance report. It will depict the student's score against the highest score achieved in that grade, and the qualitative category that the student's score falls under.Should a column chart be used instead?
Correct Answer:D
A bullet chart is a type of bar chart that shows progress towards a goal or performance against a reference line1. It consists of a bar representing the featured measure, a reference line denoting a target or threshold, and a background with qualitative ranges (such as poor, fair, good, excellent)2. In this case, the featured measure is the student??s score, the reference line is the highest score achieved in that grade, and the background ranges are the qualitative categories that the student??s score falls under. A bullet chart is a good option for this use case because it can display all three criteria in one chart, using minimal space and avoiding clutter. A column chart, on the other hand, would require either multiple columns for each student to show the score, the highest score, and the category, or a separate legend to map the colors of the columns to the categories. This would make the chart less effective in communicating the information and more difficult to compare across students.
References:1: Understanding and Using Bullet Graphs | Tableau, 2: Bullet Charts - What Is It And How To Use It - JSCharting
- (Topic 2)
From a prior analytics study, a telecommunications company has concluded that due to the maturity of the market the cost of obtaining new customers is on the rise. As a result, the company wants to increase their efforts on retaining customers. One of the key performance indicators that will help them track their progress in this area is the rate at
which customers leave/unsubscribe from their services over a given time period.Which performance indicator is this referring to?
Correct Answer:C
According to the Introduction to Business Data Analytics: A Practitioner View, churn rate is a measure of customer attrition, or the percentage of customers who stop using a product or service over a given time period. Churn rate is an important indicator of customer satisfaction, loyalty, and retention. A high churn rate implies that customers are dissatisfied or have found better alternatives, which can negatively affect the revenue and growth of a business. A low churn rate implies that customers are satisfied and loyal, which can positively affect the revenue and growth of a business. In this situation, the telecommunications company wants to increase their efforts on retaining customers, so they need to track their churn rate and try to reduce it.
References: Introduction to Business Data Analytics: A Practitioner View, page 17; CBDA Exam Blueprint, page 7; [Churn Rate Definition - Investopedia]
- (Topic 1)
An analytics team has completed some initial data analysis but is considering revising their research question based on their analysis findings. The team was concerned the original question was too broad. What outcome would lead the team to have this concern?
Correct Answer:C
A research question is a clear and focused question that guides the data analytics process and defines the expected outcome or value of the analysis1. A research question that is too broad may lead to the concern of being difficult to identify the key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure, as KPIs are specific, quantifiable, and relevant metrics that indicate the progress and success of the analysis in relation to the research question23. A broad research question may also result in too much or too little data, unclear or conflicting objectives, or irrelevant or ambiguous results4. References: 1: Guide to Business Data Analytics, IIBA, 2020, p. 202: Guide to Business Data Analytics, IIBA, 2020, p. 233: Key Performance Indicators: Developing, Implementing, and Using Winning KPIs, David Parmenter, 2015, p. 34: How to Write a Good Research Question, ThoughtCo, 2021, 1.
- (Topic 1)
The analytics team has been asked to determine if the organization should launch their highest revenue generating product into the North American market. To date, this has only been available in Eastern Europe. To answer this, the team formulates several research questions, including:
Correct Answer:D
One of the steps in identifying the research questions for business data analytics is to assess the feasibility and desirability of the proposed solution or change1. This involves understanding the needs, preferences, and satisfaction of the existing and potential customers. Therefore, asking whether the existing customers really like the product is a relevant research question for the analytics team. References: 1: Guide to Business Data Analytics, IIBA, 2020, p. 22.
- (Topic 2)
A large retail chain has asked their analytics team to complete a study on their customers' purchasing patterns. The analyst assigned to the study has decided to draw further insight by grouping customers based on their purchasing habits.This clustering approach is an example of:
Correct Answer:C
Unsupervised learning is a category of data analysis techniques that does not require labeled data or predefined outcomes. Unsupervised learning aims to discover patterns, structures, or relationships in the data without any guidance or supervision. Clustering is a common example of unsupervised learning, where the data is grouped into clusters based on some similarity or distance measure. Clustering can help reveal customer segments, market trends, or product preferences, among other insights. References:Guide to Business Data Analytics, page 39; Introduction to Business Data Analytics: A Practitioner View, page 10.