IIBA IIBA Certifications CBDA Questions & Answers

• Question 111:

  A lab is conducting a study on protein interactions. They have used the data to create a graph visualization. In graph visualization, what would a layout be?

  A. A single data point

  B. A link between two data points

  C. A dedicated algorithm that calculates the node positions

  D. A collection of data points and links

  Correct Answer: C

  A layout is a way of arranging the nodes and links of a graph visualization to convey meaningful information about the data. A layout is determined by a dedicated algorithm that calculates the node positions based on certain criteria, such as

  minimizing edge crossings, maximizing node spacing, or emphasizing clusters12. A layout can also be influenced by user interaction, such as zooming, panning, or dragging3. References: 1:

  Guide to Business Data Analytics, IIBA, 2020, p. 642: Graph Drawing: Algorithms for the Visualization of Graphs, Giuseppe Di Battista et al., 1999, p. 33: Interactive Data Visualization: Foundations, Techniques, and Applications, Matthew O.

  Ward et al., 2015, p. 227.

• Question 112:

  A colleague proposes measuring job satisfaction by asking the question "What is your salary?". What is the concerning factor about this question?

  A. Validity

  B. Clarity

  C. Reproducibility

  D. Subjectivity

  Correct Answer: A

  Validity is the extent to which a measure or a question accurately captures the intended concept or construct1. The question "What is your salary?" is not a valid measure of job satisfaction, as it does not reflect the various aspects of job satisfaction, such as work environment, recognition, autonomy, growth, etc. Salary is only one possible factor that may influence job satisfaction, but it is not a direct or comprehensive indicator of it23. Therefore, the question is not valid for measuring job satisfaction.

• Question 113:

  An analytics team has been asked to answer the following question: "Given that you're a customer, would you work at our company?" The team is concerned about answering this question because it is:

  A. Insignificant

  B. Short

  C. Unethical

  D. Unclear

  Correct Answer: D

  The question "Given that you're a customer, would you work at our company?" is unclear, because it is a hypothetical and subjective question that does not specify the purpose, scope, or context of the analysis. The question also does not define what constitutes a customer, or how the customer's experience or satisfaction relates to the employee's motivation or performance. The question needs to be refined and clarified to make it more focused, relevant, and feasible for the

  analytics team to answer. For example, the question could be rephrased as "How does the customer satisfaction score affect the employee retention rate in our company?"

• Question 114:

  Based on the results of a recently completed analytics initiative, the Human Resource department for a major department store implemented a change to its hiring practice to address the attrition rates of its sales associates. The new policy stated that candidates applying for sales positions must possess at least 3 years of relevant sales experience to be considered. After implementing the change, attrition rates are 10% higher and management is frustrated. Which of the following could result in this outcome?

  A. The results of analysis have been incorrectly interpreted

  B. Sales experience is not a relevant skill

  C. Analytics is not helpful given this situation

  D. The change proposed is not aligned to company strategy

  Correct Answer: D

  The change proposed is not aligned to company strategy, because it may not address the root cause of the attrition problem, or it may conflict with other organizational goals or values. For example, the change may reduce the pool of qualified candidates, increase the hiring costs, or lower the diversity or customer satisfaction of the sales team. The change may also ignore other factors thatinfluence the attrition rates, such as compensation, training, feedback, or recognition. Therefore, the change may not achieve the desired outcome of reducing attrition, and may even worsen it.

• Question 115:

  An analytics system is being developed by relying entirely on research questions that are framed using the results from benchmarking. Which research question is being asked?

  A. Which customers provide the greatest profit to the company?

  B. How efficient is the company compared to its competitors?

  C. Will more profit be made if we increase or decrease our sales price?

  D. Which employees are we in danger of losing?

  Correct Answer: B

  Benchmarking is a method of comparing the performance of a business with others in the same industry or with industry standards12. It helps to identify areas of improvement and best practices for superior performance34. A research question that is framed using the results from benchmarking would focus on how the company compares to its competitors or to the industry average on a specific metric or process. For example, how efficient is the company compared to its competitors? This question would require the company to measure its efficiency using a relevant indicator, such as cost per unit, time per task, or output per employee, and compare it to the same indicator for its competitors. This would help the company to identify its strengths and weaknesses, and to find ways to improve its efficiency and gain a competitive advantage

• Question 116:

  A dataset contains 10 measures of workplace sustainability. The analytics team is in need of producing a single score of sustainability. Which of the following techniques if used would achieve this objective?

  A. Logistic regression

  B. Linkage algorithms

  C. Factor analysis

  D. K means clustering

  Correct Answer: C

  Factor analysis is the technique that, if used, would achieve the objective of producing a single score of sustainability, because it is a technique that reduces the dimensionality of a data set by identifying the underlying factors or latent variables that explain the variation and correlation among the observed variables. Factor analysis can help the analytics team combine the 10 measures of workplace sustainability into a smaller number of factors, and then derive a composite score ofsustainability based on the factor loadings and weights. Factor analysis can also help the analytics team simplify and interpret the data, and identify the key drivers of sustainability.

• Question 117:

  A professor at a university has received a few complaints of the exams being too difficult. The professor is looking at exam performance results over the past 5 years to understand the normal tendency and outliers. Which chart should the professor use?

  A. Sunburst

  B. Scatterplot

  C. Pie chart

  D. Line

  Correct Answer: B

  A scatterplot is a type of chart that shows the relationship between two variables by plotting data points on a two-dimensional plane. A scatterplot can help the professor to understand the normal tendency and outliers of exam performance results over the past 5 years by displaying the distribution, trend, and correlation of the data. For example, the professor can use the x-axis to represent the year and the y-axis to represent the exam score, and see how the scores vary over time and across different exams. Outliers can be identified as data points that are far away from the main cluster or the line of best fit

• Question 118:

  An organization's customers are categorized based on the amount of purchases completed over the last 12 months. The analytics team would like to ensure the accuracy of their survey results and decide to randomly select 500 customers to participate in a survey from this large pool of customers. This is an example of:

  A. Stratified sampling

  B. Quota sampling

  C. Purposive sampling

  D. Snowball sampling

  Correct Answer: A

  Stratified sampling is a technique that divides the population into homogeneous subgroups (strata) based on a relevant characteristic, such as the amount of purchases, and then randomly selects a proportional number of elements from each subgroup to form the sample. Stratified sampling ensures that the sample is representative of the population and reduces the sampling error and bias

• Question 119:

  A financial software company has growth and expansion as one of their top strategic priorities for the year. The senior executive team would like to assess their sales performance over the last 3 years to help set sales objectives. In discussion with the business analytics manager, for a comprehensive sales report, the sales lead recommends looking into the number of contracts signed over the past 3 years and the dollar value for the signed contracts. Which other question is important to consider when evaluating sales performance?

  A. What is the time to market the software

  B. What is the total cost incurred per year

  C. What is the number of customers retained over the past 3 years

  D. What is the average time for conversion

  Correct Answer: D

  The average time for conversion is the average number of days it takes to convert a lead into a customer. This is an important question to consider when evaluating sales performance, because it indicates the efficiency and effectiveness of the sales process. A shorter time for conversion means that the sales team can close more deals in less time, and thus increase the revenue and profitability of the company. A longer time for conversion may indicate that there are bottlenecks, challenges, or inefficiencies in the sales process that need to be addressed.

• Question 120:

  An insurance company has seen an upward trend in winter-related accidents over the past three years. The company has just completed an analytics study to better understand the primary reasons for these accidents and assess how many of the drivers were using winter tires. This analysis will help the company decide how to move forward with drivers not taking precautionary measures during winter. What type of analysis will help in determining the primary reasons and percentage of those drivers with winter tires?

  A. Prescriptive

  B. Descriptive and Predictive

  C. Descriptive

  D. Descriptive and Diagnostic

  Correct Answer: D

  Descriptive analytics is a type of analytics that summarizes and visualizes the data to provide an overview of what has happened or is happening, such as the trend of winter-related accidents over the past three years, or the percentage of drivers using winter tires12. Diagnostic analytics is a type of analytics that explores and analyzes the data to understand why something has happened or is happening, such as the primary reasons for these accidents, or the factors that influence the drivers' decisions13. To answer the question, both descriptive and diagnostic analytics would be needed to provide the relevant information and insights for the company.