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CMA Intermediate · Financial Management and Business Data Analytics · Data Presentation: Visualisation and Graphical Presentation

An analyst compares the number of loan accounts across five bank branches, where the categories are separate and unordered. Which presentation is most appropriate and why?

A bar chart is most appropriate, because the branches are discrete, unordered categories and bars from a common baseline make their loan account counts easy to compare. A line graph implies a time sequence.

  1. ABar chart, because bar lengths allow easy comparison of discrete categoriesCorrect
  2. BLine graph, because it joins branches to show a time trend
  3. CPie chart, because five categories always need slices
  4. DHistogram, because branches are continuous class intervals

Explanation

Discrete, unordered categories are best compared with bars drawn from a common baseline, so lengths compare easily. A line graph implies continuity or time order, which branches lack. A histogram is for continuous class intervals.

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