1
WGU D459 Task 3: Data Analysis &
Interpretation Complete Guide with
Verified Solutions & Expert Rationales
| Western Governors University
Section 1: Interpreting Charts & Graphs
Q1: A line chart shows a company’s quarterly sales over three years. The line has a consistent
upward slope with small seasonal dips in Q1 each year. What is the most accurate interpretation?
A. Sales are unpredictable and declining.
B. The company shows strong overall growth with predictable seasonal variation.
C. The company should discontinue its Q1 products.
D. There is no correlation between time and sales performance.
Answer: B
Verified Rationale: A steady upward trend indicates overall growth, and repeated Q1 dips signal
a regular seasonal pattern.
Q2: A scatter plot displays customer satisfaction scores (Y-axis) against customer service
response time in hours (X-axis). The points trend downward from left to right. This suggests:
A. Faster response times have no effect on satisfaction.
B. There is a negative correlation: longer response times are associated with lower satisfaction
scores.
C. There is a positive correlation: longer response times improve satisfaction.
D. The data is insufficient to determine a relationship.
Answer: B
Verified Rationale: A downward-sloping scatter trend means higher response times correspond to
lower satisfaction, indicating a negative correlation.
Q3: A bar chart compares 2023 monthly website traffic for two product lines. Product A bars rise
steadily each month while Product B bars remain flat. Which conclusion is best?
A. Product A is gaining market interest over time.
B. Product B is outperforming Product A.
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C. Website traffic is unrelated to product interest.
D. Both products show seasonal spikes.
Answer: A
Verified Rationale: Monotonically rising bars for Product A indicate growing visitor interest
throughout 2023.
Q4: A histogram of customer ages shows a peak at 25–34 and a smaller peak at 55–64. This
distribution is best described as:
A. Uniform
B. Bimodal
C. Normal
D. Skewed left
Answer: B
Verified Rationale: Two distinct peaks identify a bimodal distribution.
Q5: A pie chart displays regional sales: North 45 %, South 15 %, East 10 %, West 30 %. Which
region contributed the smallest share of total sales?
A. North
B. West
C. East
D. South
Answer: C
Verified Rationale: The 10 % slice for East is the smallest percentage shown.
Q6: A box-and-whisker plot of weekly order values shows the median line at $200, the lower
quartile at $150, and the upper quartile at $350. Approximately 50 % of orders fall between:
A. $150 and $350
B. $0 and $200
C. $200 and $350
D. $150 and $200
Answer: A
Verified Rationale: The interquartile range (Q1 to Q3) captures the middle 50 % of data.
Q7: A dual-axis line graph plots revenue (left axis) and customer count (right axis) from 2020-
2023. Both lines rise steeply but revenue increases faster. This implies:
A. Average spend per customer is rising.
B. Customer count is falling.
C. Revenue and customer count are unrelated.
D. Prices were lowered each year.
Answer: A
Verified Rationale: Faster revenue growth relative to customer growth indicates higher average
spend per customer.
WGU D459 Task 3: Data Analysis &
Interpretation Complete Guide with
Verified Solutions & Expert Rationales
| Western Governors University
Section 1: Interpreting Charts & Graphs
Q1: A line chart shows a company’s quarterly sales over three years. The line has a consistent
upward slope with small seasonal dips in Q1 each year. What is the most accurate interpretation?
A. Sales are unpredictable and declining.
B. The company shows strong overall growth with predictable seasonal variation.
C. The company should discontinue its Q1 products.
D. There is no correlation between time and sales performance.
Answer: B
Verified Rationale: A steady upward trend indicates overall growth, and repeated Q1 dips signal
a regular seasonal pattern.
Q2: A scatter plot displays customer satisfaction scores (Y-axis) against customer service
response time in hours (X-axis). The points trend downward from left to right. This suggests:
A. Faster response times have no effect on satisfaction.
B. There is a negative correlation: longer response times are associated with lower satisfaction
scores.
C. There is a positive correlation: longer response times improve satisfaction.
D. The data is insufficient to determine a relationship.
Answer: B
Verified Rationale: A downward-sloping scatter trend means higher response times correspond to
lower satisfaction, indicating a negative correlation.
Q3: A bar chart compares 2023 monthly website traffic for two product lines. Product A bars rise
steadily each month while Product B bars remain flat. Which conclusion is best?
A. Product A is gaining market interest over time.
B. Product B is outperforming Product A.
, 2
C. Website traffic is unrelated to product interest.
D. Both products show seasonal spikes.
Answer: A
Verified Rationale: Monotonically rising bars for Product A indicate growing visitor interest
throughout 2023.
Q4: A histogram of customer ages shows a peak at 25–34 and a smaller peak at 55–64. This
distribution is best described as:
A. Uniform
B. Bimodal
C. Normal
D. Skewed left
Answer: B
Verified Rationale: Two distinct peaks identify a bimodal distribution.
Q5: A pie chart displays regional sales: North 45 %, South 15 %, East 10 %, West 30 %. Which
region contributed the smallest share of total sales?
A. North
B. West
C. East
D. South
Answer: C
Verified Rationale: The 10 % slice for East is the smallest percentage shown.
Q6: A box-and-whisker plot of weekly order values shows the median line at $200, the lower
quartile at $150, and the upper quartile at $350. Approximately 50 % of orders fall between:
A. $150 and $350
B. $0 and $200
C. $200 and $350
D. $150 and $200
Answer: A
Verified Rationale: The interquartile range (Q1 to Q3) captures the middle 50 % of data.
Q7: A dual-axis line graph plots revenue (left axis) and customer count (right axis) from 2020-
2023. Both lines rise steeply but revenue increases faster. This implies:
A. Average spend per customer is rising.
B. Customer count is falling.
C. Revenue and customer count are unrelated.
D. Prices were lowered each year.
Answer: A
Verified Rationale: Faster revenue growth relative to customer growth indicates higher average
spend per customer.
