Single & Multiple Distribution Plots
1. Which of the following accurately represents a single distribution?
A. Scatter plot
B. Bar chart
C. Histogram
D. Tree map
Answer: C
2. A downside of histograms and density plots is that they require:
A. No labels
B. Color variation
C. Arbitrary parameter choices (e.g., bin width)
D. Legend placement
Answer: C
3. Which type of plot always represents data faithfully but is harder to interpret?
A. Bar chart
B. Line plot
C. Q-Q plot
D. Heat map
Answer: C
4. What does a cumulative density plot show?
A. Histogram bars
B. Running total of probabilities
C. Mean and median
D. Log transformation
Answer: B
5. Which plot combines boxplot and density plot features?
A. Violin plot
B. Line chart
C. Scatter plot
D. Heatmap
Answer: A
Comparing Multiple Distributions
6. A common plot to compare multiple distributions:
A. Dot chart
B. Boxplot
C. Area chart
D. Tree map
Answer: B
7. Which plot is most helpful when data overlap is high?
A. Stacked bar plot
B. Overlapping histogram
C. Ridgeline plot
D. Simple histogram
Answer: C
8. What is a disadvantage of stacked histograms?
A. They show too much detail
B. They are space-efficient
C. Difficult to interpret when overlapping
D. They require no color
Answer: C
9. Which plot emphasizes the probability density of data along with distribution?
A. Strip chart
B. Violin plot
C. Histogram
D. Bubble chart
Answer: B
10. What is one advantage of a boxplot?
A. Shows mean only
B. Ignores outliers
C. Summarizes spread and outliers
D. Uses color encoding
Answer: C
Strip, Sina & Ridgeline Plots
11. A strip chart is best used when:
A. Data is large
B. Dataset is small and we want to see individual points
C. We need to plot means only
D. Groups are numerous
Answer: B
12. What technique helps to reduce point overlap in strip plots?
A. Filtering
B. Jittering
C. Sampling
D. Scaling
Answer: B
13. A sina plot differs from a strip chart by:
A. Sorting data
B. Coloring points
C. Mapping jitter width to density
D. Using bar heights
Answer: C
14. Which plot is best to show density shape and height comparison across groups?
A. Sina plot
B. Violin plot
C. Ridgeline plot
D. Histogram
Answer: C
15. Ridgeline plots are particularly useful when:
A. You want to show time series
B. Comparing density curves across categories
C. Encoding 3D values
D. Removing duplicates
Answer: B
Visualizing Proportions
16. Pie charts are criticized because they are:
A. Informative
B. Compact
C. Space-inefficient and confusing
D. The best option for comparisons
Answer: C
17. What is a better alternative to pie charts when comparing multiple categories?
A. Line chart
B. Boxplot
C. Grouped or stacked bar plot
D. Scatterplot
Answer: C
18. Treemaps are useful for visualizing:
A. Trends
B. Proportions in hierarchical data
C. Time series
D. Continuous values
Answer: B
19. Mosaic plots are used when:
A. Comparing single groups
B. Encoding proportions for two grouping variables
C. Only means are required
D. Showing residuals
Answer: B
20. Parallel sets are suitable for:
A. Correlation
B. Multi-variable proportions
C. Linearity testing
D. PCA
Answer: B
x-y Relationships
21. What plot is used to show one quantitative variable relative to another?
A. Boxplot
B. Violin plot
C. Scatterplot
D. Heatmap
Answer: C
22. Which chart is used when you want to add a third quantitative variable to a scatterplot?
A. Boxplot
B. Violin plot
C. Bubble chart
D. Area chart
Answer: C
23. A slopegraph is ideal for:
A. Time series
B. Paired comparison using same units
C. Frequency distribution
D. Histograms
Answer: B
24. What does a scatterplot matrix show?
A. Summary statistics
B. Pairwise scatterplots among all variables
C. Bar plot for each group
D. Frequency distribution
Answer: B
25. A correlogram displays:
A. Linear regression results
B. Scatterplots only
C. Correlation matrix in color-coded grid
D. Only histograms
Answer: C
Visual Storytelling
26. Good data storytelling requires:
A. Showing raw data only
B. Using as much text as possible
C. Clear, engaging visuals
D. Minimal interpretation
Answer: C
27. “Make a figure for the generals” means:
A. Include military data
B. Use formal colors
C. Keep visuals simple and understandable
D. Use acronyms
Answer: C
28. The recommended method when dealing with complex visuals:
A. Show everything at once
B. Use animations
C. Build up the story gradually
D. Add background noise
Answer: C
29. Figures should look like they belong to the same story by:
A. Using identical charts
B. Using consistent style, colors, and fonts
C. Adding more labels
D. Keeping all axes hidden
Answer: B
30. What should you avoid when presenting too much in a single chart?
A. Simplicity
B. Legends
C. Overloaded visuals
D. Horizontal axes
Answer: C
Use of Color
31. Colors are useful in visualizations to:
A. Add noise
B. Distort values
C. Highlight, group, or represent values
D. Hide axes
Answer: C
32. Using too many different colors causes:
A. Clarity
B. Confusion
C. Enhanced accuracy
D. Emotional impact
Answer: B
33. Which color scale is best for three to five categories?
A. Rainbow
B. Diverging
C. Qualitative
D. Sequential
Answer: C
34. Why avoid rainbow color scales in continuous data?
A. They are monotonic
B. They are grayscale
C. They misrepresent relative differences
D. They use only red and blue
Answer: C
35. What’s a better alternative to rainbow scale for continuous data?
A. Diverging or sequential scale
B. Categorical scale
C. Histogram
D. Line chart
Answer: A
Color Blindness & Accessibility
36. Approximately what % of men are colorblind?
A. 1%
B. 5%
C. 8%
D. 15%
Answer: C
37. Which color pair is hardest to distinguish for colorblind people?
A. Red–blue
B. Red–green
C. Yellow–gray
D. Blue–orange
Answer: B
38. To improve accessibility, use:
A. Grayscale
B. Highly saturated colors
C. Direct labeling and limited color encoding
D. Only pie charts
Answer: C
39. A good color scale for emphasis includes:
A. Random colors
B. Accent colors + subdued base colors
C. Monochrome only
D. No labels
Answer: B
40. Color should always:
A. Be avoided
B. Serve a purpose—highlight, distinguish, or show value
C. Be in rainbow scale
D. Match the background
Answer: B
Design Pitfalls & Best Practices
41. Why avoid unjustified 3D in plots?
A. Adds beauty
B. Enhances accuracy
C. Distorts perception
D. Increases computation
Answer: C
42. Which kind of lines should be avoided in density plots?
A. Solid colored
B. Line outlines only
C. Bar plots
D. Vertical lines
Answer: B
43. What is recommended for axis labels?
A. Small font
B. Long text
C. Large and readable font
D. Hidden axes
Answer: C
44. Gridlines in the background can:
A. Always help
B. Add visual noise
C. Reduce interpretation
D. Be mandatory
Answer: B
45. Default software visualizations should be:
A. Trusted blindly
B. Rejected
C. Modified and refined
D. Ignored
Answer: C
46. Which design principle is most emphasized in visualization?
A. Decoration
B. Simplicity
C. Brightness
D. Animation
Answer: B
47. Non-encoding elements should be:
A. Colorful
B. Minimal
C. Maximized
D. 3D
Answer: B
48. Small multiples are used when:
A. Data is unreadable
B. Too few groups
C. Many categorical variables (>6)
D. Color is unavailable
Answer: C
49. What should you do instead of relying solely on a legend?
A. Remove all colors
B. Use complex gridlines
C. Use direct labeling when possible
D. Add borders
Answer: C
50. White space in visualization helps to:
A. Add clutter
B. Confuse reader
C. Emphasize clarity and reduce cognitive load
D. Replace axes
Answer: C
