IIBA IIBA Certifications CBDA Questions & Answers

• Question 141:

  A call center has requested to review their sales conversion data for the month. The analyst working on this request is trying to identify the chart that will effectively present the data, which includes: the number of leads, the number of calls made, the number of calls completed, the number of customers interested and the number of sales. What chart should the analyst use to show the values across each stage of the pipeline?

  A. Pie chart

  B. Funnel chart

  C. Bar chart

  D. Bullet chart

  Correct Answer: B

  A funnel chart is a type of chart that shows the values of different stages of a process, such as a sales pipeline, where each stage represents a subset of the previous one. A funnel chart is useful for showing the conversion rate, the drop-off rate, and the potential revenue or profit at each stage. A funnel chart would be an effective way to present the data requested by the call center, as it would show the number of leads, calls, customers, and sales, as well as the percentage of change between each stage.

• Question 142:

  The architecture team puts forth a solution architecture that integrates multiple data sources from within and outside the organization. The architecture provides the foundation to source a new analytics program. If one of the objectives of the analytics team was to provide 'one source of the truth', this objective would be referring to which of the following?

  A. Identifying one key stakeholder, who can make final decisions about which sources to relate/merge

  B. Evaluating the completeness, validity, and reliability of the data from source systems

  C. Ensuring stakeholders always have clear insight into the final requirements at all times

  D. Enforcing master data management principles and practices

  Correct Answer: D

  Providing `one source of the truth' means ensuring that there is a single, consistent, and authoritative source of data that can be used for analytics and decision making across the organization. This objective can be achieved by enforcing master data management principles and practices, which involve defining, governing, and maintaining the quality and integrity of the core data entities that are shared by multiple systems and processes. Master data management helps to eliminate data silos, reduce data duplication and inconsistency, and improve data accuracy and reliability

• Question 143:

  A software company launched a new product in late 2016. The product manager is reviewing a Box and Whisker plot used to compare year-over-year sales, from 2017 to 2018. What is the conclusion he can make from this chart?

  A. 2017 minimum and maximum sales are higher than 2018, and the 2017 median result is higher than the 2018 median result

  B. 2017 minimum and maximum sales are higher than 2018, but the 2017 median result is lower than 2018 1st quartile result

  C. 2018 minimum and maximum sales are higher than 2017, and the 2018 quartile results are higher than 2017 quartile results

  D. 2018 minimum and maximum sales are higher than 2017, and the 2018 1st quartile is higher than 2017 median result

  Correct Answer: D

• Question 144:

  As the team discusses how to utilize the results of their data analysis to put forth a business recommendation, an analyst on the team voices concern over the current organizational culture presenting a roadblock to their ability to influence business decision making. Which of the following would be a justifiable concern at this stage of the team's efforts?

  A. Difficulty bringing business stakeholders to a shared understanding about value when sharing data assets across business domains

  B. Changing the mindsets of business stakeholders to trust insights gleaned from data over experience and intuition

  C. Applying a myopic view of data and establishing data silos which create roadblocks to exploring available data sources

  D. Finding data that creates value creating difficulties, as not all data helps a business make better decisions

  Correct Answer: B

  A justifiable concern at this stage of the team's efforts is changing the mindsets of business stakeholders to trust insights gleaned from data over experience and intuition. This is because some stakeholders may have a strong attachment to their own opinions or beliefs, and may resist or ignore data that contradicts them. This can create a barrier to data-driven decision making, which requires a culture of curiosity, openness, and evidence-based reasoning. The team needs to communicate the value and validity of their data analysis, and persuade the stakeholders to adopt a data-driven mindset

• Question 145:

  An analytics team employed at a leading credit card company is utilizing data analytics to identify unusual credit card purchases.

  They have created the following visual. How many extreme outliers exists in this dataset?

  

  A. 0

  B. 5

  C. 3

  D. 2

  Correct Answer: C

  According to the Business Data Analytics (IIBA - CBDA) principles, extreme outliers in a dataset can be identified visually on a scatter plot as points that are distinctly separate from the bulk of the data. In this visual, there are three points that are significantly higher on the y-axis (credit card expense) relative to their position on the x-axis (household income), indicating unusual credit card purchases. References: The identification and interpretation of outliers is a standard practice in data analytics and is covered under the Business Data Analytics (IIBA - CBDA) learning resources.

• Question 146:

  The analytics team has completed analyzing a dataset and unfortunately the data didn't deliver the kinds of insights that the team was hoping for. After much contemplation, they decide to:

  A. Summarize the results and indicate the outcome was inconclusive

  B. Inform management that analytics could not derive insightful results

  C. Wait a few weeks and rerun the analysis using refreshed data

  D. Restart the work with formation of a new research question

  Correct Answer: D

  The analytics team should restart the work with formation of a new research question, because the existing one may not be well-defined, relevant, or feasible. A well-formed research question is the first step of the business data analytics cycle, and it guides the subsequent steps of sourcing, analyzing, interpreting, and reporting data. If the data analysis does not yield meaningful insights, the team should revisit the research question and refine it based on the business problem, stakeholder needs, data availability, and analytical methods.

• Question 147:

  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?

  A. Data once analyzed had significant data quality issues

  B. Data the team had planned to use was not available

  C. Difficult to identify the KPIs to measure

  D. The source data sets could not be merged

  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 results

• Question 148:

  A marketing director has asked the question 'How many product purchases are expected this coming year given the current marketing campaign?". What type of analytics would be performed to answer this question?

  A. Descriptive

  B. Predictive

  C. Diagnostic

  D. Prescriptive

  Correct Answer: B

  Predictive analytics is a type of analytics that uses historical and current data, as well as statisticaland machine learning techniques, to forecast future events or outcomes, such as product purchases, customer behavior, or market trends12. To answer the question `How many product purchases are expected this coming year given the current marketing campaign?', predictive analytics would be performed to estimate the demand and sales based on the existing data and the marketing campaign variables.

• Question 149:

  Insights based on the data collected indicate that a multi-national company could increase its salesof a mature product by reducing its price by 20% which would result in increased revenues of 2% over a 6-month period. The team recommends this as an appropriate goal for its organization. This is considered a good goal because:

  A. It meets all the criteria for a well-defined objective

  B. The organization can derive additional revenue from the product

  C. It indicates that the company does not have to incur costs associated with retiring this product

  D. Management will be pleased that the mature product can still contribute to revenue

  Correct Answer: A

  A well-defined objective is one that is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART)1. The goal of increasing sales of a mature product by reducing its price by 20% which would result in increased revenues of 2% over a 6-month period meets all these criteria, as it clearly states what the desired outcome is, how it will be measured, whether it is realistic and attainable, how it aligns with the organization's strategy, and when it will be achieved

• Question 150:

  A real estate broker is tracking monthly sales between two of its teams. The results have been visualized using a Treemap chart. What is the advantage of using a Treemap chart, over a Sunburst chart to visualize the results?

  A. With its colour scheme, it is easy to compare the variables within a Treemap

  B. With its rectangles and straight lines, a Treemap is optimized to include more

  C. A Treemap is meant to represent a hierarchical result set as opposed to a Sunburst chart

  D. A Treemap shows all the hierarchical levels of data as opposed to a Sunburst chart

  Correct Answer: B

  A Treemap chart is a type of chart that displays hierarchical data as a set of nested rectangles, where the size and color of each rectangle represent a quantitative value and a categorical variable, respectively. A Sunburst chart is a type of chart that displays hierarchical data as a set of concentric circles, where the size and color of each slice represent a quantitative value and a categorical variable, respectively. Both charts are useful for visualizing hierarchical data structures, but they have different advantages and disadvantages. One advantage of using a Treemap chart over a Sunburst chart is that a Treemap chart is optimized to include more data points, as it uses a Cartesian coordinate system that fills the entire rectangular space of the chart area, whereas a Sunburst chart uses a polar coordinate system that leaves empty spaces in the corners of the chart area. This means that a Treemap chart can display more levels of hierarchy, more categories, and more details than a Sunburst chart, without compromising readability or clarity. Therefore, the correct answer is B, as a Treemap chart is optimized to include more data than a Sunburst chart.