Module 04 Knowledge Check
5 questions. Pass mark 4 out of 5. Answer every question before checking the answer key below, then retry after reading the feedback.
1. For 'which category is largest?', sorting by value is…
- A. a presentation preference
- B. the analysis itself
- C. only needed for many categories
- D. wrong if categories have names
2. When the change between two periods is the finding, use…
- A. grouped bars
- B. a slope chart
- C. a pie chart
- D. a stacked bar
3. Dot plots are preferable to bars when…
- A. there are two categories
- B. there are many categories or two values each
- C. the values are negative
- D. the audience is technical
4. Publishing a rank without the underlying value…
- A. is clearer
- B. presents every gap as the same size
- C. avoids arguments
- D. is standard practice
5. A dot plot may use a non-zero baseline because a dot encodes…
- A. length
- B. position
- C. area
- D. colour
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Answer Key and Explanations
Check these only after attempting every question.
1. B - the analysis itself
Alphabetical order answers 'where is Central?', which nobody asked.
2. B - a slope chart
Grouped bars make the reader compute the change; a slope chart draws it.
3. B - there are many categories or two values each
Beyond about ten categories a bar chart becomes a wall of rectangles.
4. B - presents every gap as the same size
Ranks 1-3 separated by rounding error look like the same step as a sixteen-point gap.
5. B - position
The zero-baseline rule follows from what the mark encodes, not from chart convention.
Practical Check
Apply this module to your own work: complete the module activity for *Comparison Charts: Bars, Slopes, Dot Plots and Ranking*, then write one sentence naming what your result shows and one naming what it does not.
Strong Answer Pattern
A strong answer names the task, the evidence used, the check performed, and the remaining limitation. It avoids "proved", "guaranteed", or "always" unless the evidence genuinely supports it.