Data Analyst Practice Test
As the data analyst for a large company, you are preparing a visual tool for project managers to use with their team members to show tasks and completion dates. Which of the following would be the appropriate tool for managing this information? a- A calendar time line created in a word processing application b- A calendar table created in graphics editing application c- A Gantt chart created in a presentation application d- A Gantt chart created in a spreadsheet
A Gantt chart created in a presentation application
You are building a multimedia presentation to share an analysis of data collected from peak website visitor activity. Which of the following would you include in your slides? a-Text documents about marketing products to a target audience b-A list of factors that lead to sales of products in different regions of the world c-Include a brief history or background about the project d-YouTube videos of product demonstrations included on the web site
Include a brief history or background about the project
What is an advantage of using centralized data? a- The use of "shadow" databases helps to create one version of the data b- A single location holding the main record of the data ensures consistency and accuracy c- Using multiple data redundancies at a single location creates robust centralized data d- Small changes to the database do not affect centralized data, making it more stable over time
A single location holding the main record of the data ensures consistency and accuracy
Profits at your consulting company have been stagnant for the last three years. Your company is expanding its services. You will be representing your company's new business plan at the investor's meeting. What information should you use to justify the new business plan? a-Analysis of marketing focus groups indicates that a significant change in messaging will attract additional customers b-After meeting with finance and personnel departments, you concluded staffing new services from existing resources makes the most sense c-You have interviewed some competitors already in the market, and determined that new services will be profitable d-Analysis of historical sales demonstrates a long-term life cycle for existing service programs.
Analysis of marketing focus groups indicates that a significant change in messaging will attract additional customers
A company has been analyzing the monthly sales outcomes of the 10 member sales team against stated goals. The sales team is consistently reaching targets of phone calls, emails, scheduled web conferences and demonstrations, however monthly sales are always short. The sales manager has initiated a training program that has shown progress in monthly sales outcomes. Now the sales manage needs to analyze the correct amount of training needed to produce the desired sales results. Which of the following indicators would be the best for this situation? a-Bell curve measuring hours of training to monthly sales b-Ratio of sales revenue to training scores c-Team member satisfaction surveys about the training provided d-Customer satisfaction surveys of team members performance after training
Bell curve measuring hours of training to monthly sales
As the data analyst for a large company you have been asked to distribute information including long-term trends of key areas of the company's services and products to the members of the executive board. Which of the following would be a method to complete the task? a- Compile individual indicators from the information and distribute the results to board members b- Provide access to the server log files to each of the executive board members. c- Create a dashboard containing the information, accessible through the company's web portal d- Plot the information on a single bell curve and display on a wall poster to be discussed at a board meeting
Compile individual indicators from the information and distribute the results to board members
You have collected data on revenues and determined that there is a trend in revenue based on various sales cycles throughout the year. What would be the best approach to present this information to administration and the sales team? a-Create a chart that shows revenue compared to sales cycle so the trend will stand out b-Create a presentation that has a revenue table listing all revenue for a particular time frame for each sales person c-Create an e-mail message to each team member specifying his or her top and low revenue values for the quarter d-Create a word processing document outline detailed tips to improve sales revenue
Create a chart that shows revenue compared to sales cycle so the trend will stand out
Which of the following describes a tool that identifies key information that summarizes business operations? a-Dashboard b-Data map c-Log file d-Bell curve
Dashboard
What term defines the sum of the models, rules, and processes for managing data within a problem domain? a-Data planning b-Data processing c-Data architecture d-Data normalization
Data architecture
An art supply retail store is trying to determine how many brands of high-quality paintbrushes to stock in the store. Management is aware that the profit margin on paintbrushes is very low, due to high shipping costs. What other factor can affect supply chain efficiency? a-Frequency of sales transaction of paintbrushes b-Demographic profile of customers who purchased paintbrushes c-Number and location of paintbrush manufactures d-Video tutorials on special effects that various brush types can produce.
Frequency of sales transaction of paintbrushes
A retail art supply store is trying to determine the optimal quantity of paintbrushes to store in the warehouse. What kind of data should they be looking for? a- Frequency of sales transactions of paintbrushes b- Profit margin on the sale of each paintbrush c- Number and location of paintbrush manufacturers d- Demographic profile of customers who purchased paintbrushes
Frequency of sales transactions of paintbrushes
Chris works for a large e-commerce company and is looking to use the R Project to create 3D contour charts that will represent the last five years' sales data. What element of the R Project could help him create these charts? a- Tableau Public b- Knime c- Graph-R d- R-Visualizer
Graph-R
What area of the Hadoop framework is a programming model for the parallel processing of large data sets? a-Hadoop Distributed File System b-Hadoop MapReduce c-Hadoop Common d-Hadoop Yam
Hadoop MapReduce
As the Data analyst for a children's audio book club, your market data analysis has shown a growing trend in the market for delivery of books via internet streaming rather than by mail. The organization currently has highly structured data including clustered session and shared file systems in a vertical architecture. You are considering moving to a cloud-based solution. What attributes about your current structured data might require more caution? a-Highly structured data in the cloud will significantly improve the customer streaming experience b-They scale well in cloud-based systems but are offset by license fees c-Highly structured data solves latency issues in cloud-based systems d-They do not scale well in cloud-based systems
Highly structured data in the cloud will significantly improve the customer streaming experience
A company has been analyzing the monthly sales revenue of the 10 member sales team against stated goals. The sales team is consistently reaching targets of phone calls, emails, scheduled web conferences and demonstrations. However, monthly sales is always less than the stated goal. Which of the following recommendations would be the best for this situation? a- Adjust monthly sales goals inline with the average sales b- Use a bell curve to identify lower performing sales team members c- Invest in a marketing campaign to generate additional leads d- The sales manager needs to increase the monthly targets for customer demonstrations
Invest in a marketing campaign to generate additional leads
What is the primary purpose for implementing a customer relationship management system? a-It is a database for storing and planning marketing events such as tradeshows and conferences b-It maximizes profit margins by tracking current inventory and ordering new products c-It is a business strategy aimed at managing customers to optimize long-term value d-It is a business process to help a company develop products designed specifically for its customers
It is a business strategy aimed at managing customers to optimize long-term value
For most businesses, using cloud-based computing offers many benefits, except? a- Reliability b- Ubiquity c- Latency d- Economy
Latency
Mike works for an e-commerce business and is looking to capture good data that the company will use to make future business decisions. What is the most important thing he should look for when deciding on data capturing methods? a-Methods that can create the most meaningful visualizations b-Methods that are slow and methodical c-Methods that take a small sampling of the larger population d-Methods that are fast and accurate
Methods that are fast and accurate
Your friend who knows you are a professional data analyst asks for your advice. She rents several retail spaces at local swap meets in her area and she wants to determine the best inventory to stock by location. She adds that she has no budget. Which database would you recommend? a-MySQL b-Filemaker Pro c-MS-SQL d-Oracle
MySQL
You are assigned a project to determine the effectiveness of a recent post card campaign. The post card was mailed to a rented list of businesses similar to your current customers. The postcard offered a 10% discount on the first purchase of your company's flagship product. Which internal company department would you contact first to obtain data? a- Sales b- Product development c- Shipping and receiving d- Marketing
Sales
You have created a presentation about your analysis of network traffic and your suggestions to improve operations based on your findings. You have asked to present your information to the executive team members that are located in various cities internationally. Which of the following would be the appropriate tool for presenting this information? a-Set up a conference call with the members and discuss the information with all of the team members b-E-mail the handouts to the individual members and request a message receipt c-Set up a webcast meeting for everyone to connect and share your presentation. d-Present the information at the annual board meeting when all of the members will be present to participate
Set up a webcast meeting for everyone to connect and share your presentation.
Allan is reading the comments on his company social media pages to see if there are any discernable changes in the quality of customer service his company has provided in the last six months. What kind of data are these comments? a-Institutional data b-Centralized data c-Unstructured data d-Structured data
Structured data
Environmental Solutions LLC develops software for complying with governmental regulations regarding management of hazardous companies. They are trying to decide if they should develop and release a new software line for complying with safety regulations. What kinds of internal data would contribute information to help make this decision? a-Sales leads from tradeshows and magazine advertising b-Surveys on the customer's demographics, needs, and preferences c-Company overhead costs and planned marketing expenses d-Transaction data on sales of the current products
Surveys on the customer's demographics, needs, and preferences
Which scenario would call for the use of OpenRefine? a-The need to transform disorganized data from one format to another format. b-The need to see a visual representation of data drawn from multiple sources. c-The need to be able to merge and share sets of data with other users. d-The need to be able to write scripts that are customizable, replicable, and updateable
The need to transform disorganized data from one format to another format.
One of the tools used in analyzing Big Data is Hadoop. Which best describes the benefits of this tool? a- This tool helps to ensure data integrity across all remote computing clusters using simples commands b- This tool allows for the distributed processing of large data sets across clusters of computers using simple programming models c- This tool helps to reduce concerns about data security by distributing data processing between remote clusters d- The tool provides analytical reports of data processing efficiency, showing problem areas of remote computing performance
This tool allows for the distributed processing of large data sets across clusters of computers using simple programming models
When observing network traffic, which of the following will be a factor in determining and creating trend reports? a- Speed b- Google analytics c- Time frame d- Sales logs
Time frame
As the Data Analyst, you need to review the format of printed bills going out to customers. You notice that bills previously paid by credit card, show the full card number and other information. You recommend that this information be masked or truncated. Why? a- To prevent theft of the information b- To simplify the display for customers c- To remind customers that they used a credit card d- To prevent customers from paying the bill twice
To prevent theft of the information
Sarah opened a candy business a month ago. After looking at her first month's sales, she decides to stock twice as many gummy candles as chocolate candies this month. This is an example of: a- Using data b- Reading data c- Organizing data d- Capturing data
Using data
As a data analyst for an organization, which of the following is necessary to ensure your results are valid and ethical? a-Repeat the collection of data several times to ensure consistent results each time b-Verify and follow the process outlined for data collection as approved by a committee or oversight body c-Compare data collected to that of competitors to ensure findings are similar d-Do not publish any procedures about data collection methods to ensure confidentiality
Verify and follow the process outlined for data collection as approved by a committee or oversight body
The company reached a decision to add additional shifts of the existing hours of customer support personnel. They will be available during non-traditional business hours, base on trends reported by the Data Analyst. Which of the following will this information come from? a-Outcome reports b-Sales revenue estimates c-Performance estimates d-Web site traffic reports
Web site traffic reports
What is important information that can be found using customer data? a-Which types of customers buy certain products b-Projected revenue for the next year c-Options to minimize operating costs d-A method to reach the right set of customers
Which types of customers buy certain products
Which three words commonly describe the term Big Data? a-Large, unstructured, and timeless b-Volume, infinite, and predictable c-Answer Large, structured, and accurate d-Volume, velocity, and variety
Answer Large, structured, and accurate
You have an active following of customers on your company's social media site. Which technology will help integrate the information posted in this forum, with your company's sales and marketing data? a-Inventory management system b-Enterprise resource management c-Customer relationship management d-Application programming interface
Application programming interface
Your supervisor forwards you instructions to download a rental mail list of potential customer leads. The license and download instruction indicate the list is for one promotional mailing event only. Your supervisor instructs you to upload the data to your CRM so marketing can send additional promotional e-mail messages to it. Why is this unethical? a-A rental list can only be used according to the agreed upon terms, and may not be stored in a persistent database b-The license applies only to printed mailings, and does not need to be considered, when planning email campaigns c-Marketing sends its promotional messages from a different database, not the CRM d-The rental list has not been qualified for valid sales leads yet
A rental list can only be used according to the agreed upon terms, and may not be stored in a persistent database
Which of the following is a strength of the R Project? a-Analysts can write R Project scripts that are customizable, replicable, and updateable. b-Users of the R project are able to design predictive analytics with streamlined usability c-R Project scripts supports code in Java, allowing programmers to use pre-existing skills d-The R project is proprietary software with a dynamic and engaged online community
Analysts can write R Project scripts that are customizable, replicable, and updateable.
A company wants to determine the efficiency of their newly updated web site by tracking what customers did on the site and how much time the customers spent on each page. Which of the following would be the best approach? a- Have customer service representatives contact individual customers who have visited the site and interview them. b- Use a customer satisfaction survey on Facebook c- Provide incentives to customers to complete a short survey after visiting each page of the site. d- Analyze click through rates from web logs.
Analyze click through rates from web logs.
You work in the registrar's department for a major university. You need to report on expected enrollments for the next school year's cycle of freshman class registration. You must work with several different departments in the university. Which internal organization will provide the least important data for your report? a- IT department, for new student technical support requests b- Athletics department, for ticket sales for sporting events c- Admissions department, for accepted applicants d- Finance department, for financial aid applications
Athletics department, for ticket sales for sporting events
You want to determine the best-selling product in your company's catalog. How would you obtain the data necessary? a-Google analytics on specific keywords b-User surveys on customer satisfaction c-Customer order transactions from a CRM d-Key performance indicators
Customer order transactions from a CRM
You are looking at a report that lists ticket numbers, building categories, physical addresses, and descriptions of items that need repairs. What kind of data storage system is producing this data? a-Inventory Management System b-Supply Chain Management System c-Facilities Management System d-Enterprise Resource Planning System
Facilities Management System
As the Data Analyst, you have been named in a lawsuit against the company. Other employees of the company are upset over findings from a recent company network traffic usage report. Which of the following best describes the reason for this situation? a- Capturing video of employees working using a hidden camera b- Publishing an incomplete list of employee suggestions for network improvements c- Failure to keep personal information collected private d- Failure to publish positive comments along with employee complaints
Failure to keep personal information collected private
A company just completed a major update project creating an HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript interactive, dynamic web site. Now they want to measure the effectiveness of the new site along with customer expectations for the site. Which of the following would be the best approach to collect data? a-Have customer service representatives contact individual customers who have visited the site and interview them. b-Use a customer satisfaction survey on Facebook. c-Analyze click-through rates from web logs d-Provide incentives to customers to complete a short usability survey after visiting the site
Have customer service representatives contact individual customers who have visited the site and interview them.
You are working for a company that manufacturers plumbing supplies and equipment. Your customers frequently request product information form their sales representatives. How can you get the most consistent data on product preferences from these e-mails? a- Implement an artificial intelligence-based system of semantic language understanding b- Implement a structured keyword and rule-based system to identify content based on established criteria c- Ask sales team members to tag all e-mails with keywords and segmentation classifications d- Implement an application programming interface (API) to facilitate communication between the email and the company CRM.
Implement a structured keyword and rule-based system to identify content based on established criteria
Kim works for a clothing boutique that has several locations across the country. They are looking to be able to share up-to-date data between managers at multiple stores. What would be the best tool for this? a-Google BigQuery b-The R Project c-OpenRefine d-Tableau public
Tableau public
As a data analyst, you must make decisions about the location of your company's important data. What is your single most important criteria for choosing to keep data in-house? a-The company will benefit from reduced costs when keeping data in-house, as opposed to a cloud-based data storage solution b-In-house data is slower to access than cloud-based data c-The company has better control of data when using an in-house solution as opposed to a cloud-based data storage solution. d-In-house date is more accessible to staff than cloud-based data
The company has better control of data when using an in-house solution as opposed to a cloud-based data storage solution.
A competitor has recently updated their sales tactics, which now mirror your company's tactics. These changes appear to have come from guidelines used within your Sales Department. Which of the following is a possible ethical violation? a-The company CEO sold sensitive sales plans to the competitor b-The competitor hired a former employee from the production team who had not signed an NDA c-A data analyst attended the same sales trends seminar as the competitor d-A data analyst published the guidelines on sales tactics in a public forum.
The competitor hired a former employee from the production team who had not signed an NDA
The company CEO was unavailable. As a data analyst, you were asked to give a speech to the local chamber of commerce as they welcome your new company plant to their town. After the meeting, one of the commerce members asks what led to the decision to build the new plant in their town instead of the neighboring town. Which of the following is likely to be the strongest reason? a-The decision was made by the company Finance department based on analysis of geographical access to employees b-The decision to build was driven by the company CEO since he has always been fond of the town where he went to college c-The decision was based on rigorous data analysis of a training workforce, access to shipping and tax incentives d-The decision was based on the Production Managers analysis of the need for additional capacity for demand spikes
The decision was based on rigorous data analysis of a training workforce, access to shipping and tax incentives
Digitax develops and sells a boxed, locally installed tax preparation software application. They handle all the shipping and fulfillment internally. Some customers have requested an online application instead. Besides software development costs, what additional information should be considered? a- Total annual revenue and customer demographics b- Warehouse costs to store boxed product (cds, manuals) versus cloud hosting services c- Sales leads from tradeshows and magazine advertising, and promotional mailing lists d- Company overhead costs and physical location security
Warehouse costs to store boxed product (cds, manuals) versus cloud hosting services